Typhoon Joan (1951)
Typhoon Joan reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between May 3, 1951 and May 17, 1951, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Typhoon Joan. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.























Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- Western Pacific
- Dates
- May 3, 1951 to May 17, 1951
- Peak strength
- Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 980 mb (28.94 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 1347 km (837 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 6.8
- Identifier
- WP041951
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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 12:00 | 4.0N 166.5E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 3, 18:00 | 4.1N 165.8E | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 4, 00:00 | 4.2N 165.1E | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 4, 06:00 | 4.4N 164.5E | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 4, 12:00 | 4.5N 164.0E | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 4, 18:00 | 4.7N 163.0E | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 5, 00:00 | 5.0N 161.9E | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 5, 06:00 | 5.5N 160.9E | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 5, 12:00 | 6.0N 159.7E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 5, 18:00 | 6.7N 159.0E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 6, 00:00 | 7.4N 158.1E | 30 kt | 1005 mb | Mixed |
| May 6, 06:00 | 8.2N 157.8E | 25 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 6, 12:00 | 9.0N 157.5E | 25 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 6, 18:00 | 10.0N 157.5E | 30 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 7, 00:00 | 11.0N 158.0E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 7, 06:00 | 11.8N 158.5E | 40 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 7, 12:00 | 12.2N 159.0E | 55 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 7, 18:00 | 12.8N 159.5E | 60 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 8, 00:00 | 13.0N 160.0E | 65 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 8, 06:00 | 13.5N 160.4E | 65 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 8, 12:00 | 14.0N 160.6E | 70 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 8, 18:00 | 14.3N 161.1E | 75 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 9, 00:00 | 14.2N 161.2E | 70 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 9, 06:00 | 13.7N 161.1E | 65 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 9, 12:00 | 13.5N 160.8E | 60 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 9, 18:00 | 13.4N 159.7E | 55 kt | 988 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 10, 00:00 | 13.6N 158.6E | 50 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 10, 06:00 | 14.0N 157.8E | 45 kt | 993 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 10, 12:00 | 14.8N 156.8E | 40 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 10, 18:00 | 15.5N 156.0E | 35 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 11, 00:00 | 16.3N 155.3E | 40 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 11, 06:00 | 16.9N 155.0E | 40 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 11, 12:00 | 19.0N 154.0E | 40 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 11, 18:00 | 20.4N 154.1E | 40 kt | 1006 mb | Mixed |
| May 12, 00:00 | 21.7N 154.6E | 35 kt | 1008 mb | Mixed |
| May 12, 06:00 | 23.0N 155.0E | 35 kt | 1008 mb | Mixed |
| May 12, 12:00 | 24.0N 155.5E | 30 kt | 1008 mb | Mixed |
| May 12, 18:00 | 22.6N 152.3E | 1008 mb | Mixed | |
| May 13, 00:00 | 23.4N 152.4E | 1008 mb | Mixed | |
| May 13, 06:00 | 24.2N 153.0E | 1009 mb | Mixed | |
| May 13, 12:00 | 25.0N 153.8E | 1010 mb | Mixed | |
| May 13, 18:00 | 25.9N 155.0E | 1010 mb | Mixed | |
| May 14, 00:00 | 27.1N 156.0E | 1008 mb | Mixed | |
| May 14, 06:00 | 28.1N 157.1E | 1008 mb | Mixed | |
| May 14, 12:00 | 29.0N 158.1E | 1008 mb | Mixed | |
| May 14, 18:00 | 31.0N 160.0E | 1004 mb | Extratropical | |
| May 15, 00:00 | 33.9N 162.3E | 1006 mb | Extratropical | |
| May 15, 06:00 | 35.8N 164.7E | 1008 mb | Extratropical | |
| May 15, 12:00 | 37.0N 167.0E | 1008 mb | Extratropical | |
| May 15, 18:00 | 38.0N 170.1E | 1006 mb | Extratropical | |
| May 16, 00:00 | 38.9N 172.5E | 1004 mb | Extratropical | |
| May 16, 06:00 | 39.8N 174.8E | 1004 mb | Extratropical | |
| May 16, 12:00 | 40.5N 176.9E | 1004 mb | Extratropical | |
| May 16, 18:00 | 41.0N 178.9E | 990 mb | Extratropical | |
| May 17, 00:00 | 41.6N 180.0E | Extratropical |
Other Western Pacific storms of 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon GeorgiaWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon HopeWestern Pacific · 1951
- Super Typhoon IrisWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon KateWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon LouiseWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon MargeWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon NoraWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon OraWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon PatWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon RuthWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon SarahWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon ThelmaWestern Pacific · 1951
- Tropical Storm VeraWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon WandaWestern Pacific · 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon AmyWestern Pacific · 1951 · 991 deaths
- Typhoon BabsWestern Pacific · 1951
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.