Typhoon Opal (1946)

Basin

Western Pacific

Dates

September 6, 1946 to September 14, 1946

Peak strength

Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

16.3

Identifier

WP101946

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.

• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1946Tropical Depression
• Typhoon BarbaraWestern Pacific · 1946Cat 3100 kt
• Typhoon CharlottWestern Pacific · 1946Cat 180 kt
• Typhoon DollyWestern Pacific · 1946Cat 3110 kt
• Tropical Storm ElinorWestern Pacific · 1946Tropical Storm50 kt
• Typhoon GinnyWestern Pacific · 1946Cat 180 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1946Tropical Depression
• Typhoon IngridWestern Pacific · 1946Cat 4120 kt
• Typhoon JanieWestern Pacific · 1946Cat 3100 kt
• Typhoon LillyWestern Pacific · 1946Cat 4125 kt
• Tropical Storm MaggieWestern Pacific · 1946Tropical Storm60 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1946Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1946Tropical Depression
• Typhoon PriscillWestern Pacific · 1946Cat 3100 kt
• Typhoon QueridaWestern Pacific · 1946Cat 4120 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1946Tropical Depression
• Typhoon AlmaWestern Pacific · 1946Cat 4120 kt
• Typhoon BettyWestern Pacific · 1946Cat 4120 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1946Tropical Depression
• Typhoon DianneWestern Pacific · 1946Cat 295 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1946Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1946Tropical Depression

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.

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.