The 1946 season

Typhoon Alma (1946)

Typhoon Alma reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between October 18, 1946 and October 26, 1946.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Alma, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1946 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
October 18, 1946 to October 26, 1946
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Landfall
No; closest approach 304 km (189 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
24.1
Identifier
WP131946

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 18, 12:0010.7N 131.0E45 ktTropical storm
Oct 18, 18:0011.0N 130.5E55 ktTropical storm
Oct 19, 00:0011.6N 130.0E65 ktTropical storm
Oct 19, 06:0012.0N 129.5E70 ktTropical storm
Oct 19, 12:0012.2N 129.0E75 ktTropical storm
Oct 19, 18:0013.0N 128.4E80 ktTropical storm
Oct 20, 00:0013.5N 128.0E85 ktTropical storm
Oct 20, 06:0014.3N 127.8E100 ktTropical storm
Oct 20, 12:0015.5N 127.8E110 ktTropical storm
Oct 20, 18:0016.0N 127.8E115 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 00:0016.9N 127.9E120 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 06:0017.3N 128.0E120 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 12:0018.0N 128.2E120 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 18:0018.7N 128.8E120 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 00:0019.3N 129.2E115 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 06:0020.3N 130.0E115 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 12:0021.3N 130.8E110 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 18:0022.0N 131.5E105 ktTropical storm
Oct 23, 00:0022.9N 132.2E100 ktTropical storm
Oct 23, 06:0024.3N 133.7E90 ktTropical storm
Oct 23, 12:0025.8N 135.4E90 ktTropical storm
Oct 23, 18:0027.9N 137.6E85 ktTropical storm
Oct 24, 00:0030.6N 140.1E80 ktTropical storm
Oct 24, 06:0033.0N 142.5E70 ktTropical storm
Oct 24, 12:0035.4N 145.1E60 ktTropical storm
Oct 24, 18:0038.4N 148.7E50 ktTropical storm
Oct 25, 00:0040.5N 156.5E50 ktTropical storm
Oct 25, 06:0042.0N 160.0E50 ktTropical storm
Oct 25, 12:0043.0N 163.5E50 ktTropical storm
Oct 25, 18:0049.0N 167.0E45 ktTropical storm
Oct 26, 00:0051.5N 170.5E65 ktTropical storm

Other Western Pacific storms of 1946

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.