The 1951 season

Typhoon Sarah (1951)

Typhoon Sarah reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between October 22, 1951 and October 29, 1951, with a lowest pressure of 960 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Sarah, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1951 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
October 22, 1951 to October 29, 1951
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
960 mb (28.35 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1330 km (826 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
14.6
Identifier
WP121951

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 22, 00:0021.0N 152.0E1010 mbMixed
Oct 22, 06:0021.0N 154.0E1008 mbMixed
Oct 22, 12:0022.0N 156.0E1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 18:0023.0N 155.9E1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 00:0024.0N 155.4E990 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 06:0024.0N 155.0E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 12:0024.4N 153.2E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 18:0024.8N 152.3E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 00:0025.2N 151.7E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 06:0026.2N 151.3E90 kt968 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 12:0027.1N 151.5E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 18:0028.2N 152.2E95 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 00:0029.0N 153.0E100 kt962 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 06:0030.5N 154.5E100 kt962 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 12:0031.8N 156.4E100 kt964 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 18:0032.8N 158.0E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 00:0033.9N 159.9E100 kt970 mbMixed
Oct 26, 06:0034.9N 161.8E90 kt970 mbMixed
Oct 26, 12:0035.8N 163.8E85 kt970 mbMixed
Oct 26, 18:0036.2N 165.8E80 kt970 mbMixed
Oct 27, 00:0037.0N 168.0E75 kt970 mbMixed
Oct 27, 06:0038.0N 170.0E75 kt990 mbMixed
Oct 27, 12:0038.5N 172.0E70 kt995 mbMixed
Oct 27, 18:0038.3N 175.0E65 kt995 mbMixed
Oct 28, 00:0038.2N 177.0E60 kt1000 mbMixed
Oct 28, 06:0038.1N 178.5E55 kt1002 mbMixed
Oct 28, 12:0038.0N 180.0E45 kt1004 mbMixed
Oct 28, 18:0039.0N 176.5W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 29, 00:0041.0N 173.5W35 ktTropical storm

Other Western Pacific storms of 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.