Typhoon Thelma (1951)
Typhoon Thelma reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between October 26, 1951 and November 2, 1951, with a lowest pressure of 950 mb.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Typhoon Thelma. 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
- October 26, 1951 to November 2, 1951
- Peak strength
- Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 950 mb (28.05 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 483 km (300 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 18.1
- Identifier
- WP131951
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 26, 12:00 | 13.1N 154.5E | 60 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 26, 18:00 | 13.8N 152.5E | 70 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 27, 00:00 | 14.0N 151.0E | 80 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 27, 06:00 | 14.4N 149.1E | 90 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 27, 12:00 | 14.9N 147.3E | 90 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 27, 18:00 | 15.7N 145.0E | 90 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 28, 00:00 | 16.5N 143.2E | 90 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 28, 06:00 | 17.4N 141.1E | 100 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 28, 12:00 | 18.5N 139.8E | 110 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 28, 18:00 | 20.0N 138.0E | 120 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 29, 00:00 | 21.5N 137.0E | 125 kt | 950 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 29, 06:00 | 23.2N 136.4E | 125 kt | 950 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 29, 12:00 | 25.2N 136.8E | 120 kt | 950 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 29, 18:00 | 27.0N 137.8E | 120 kt | 950 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 30, 00:00 | 28.3N 138.9E | 120 kt | 955 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 30, 06:00 | 30.3N 141.4E | 80 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 30, 12:00 | 32.0N 144.3E | 70 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 30, 18:00 | 33.1N 147.7E | 60 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 31, 00:00 | 34.0N 151.0E | 50 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 31, 06:00 | 35.0N 155.0E | 45 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 31, 12:00 | 35.8N 158.6E | 40 kt | 980 mb | Mixed |
| Oct 31, 18:00 | 36.8N 161.9E | 35 kt | 980 mb | Mixed |
| Nov 1, 00:00 | 38.0N 165.0E | 30 kt | 980 mb | Mixed |
| Nov 1, 06:00 | 38.0N 173.2E | 990 mb | Mixed | |
| Nov 1, 12:00 | 38.0N 176.6E | 990 mb | Mixed | |
| Nov 1, 18:00 | 38.0N 180.0E | 990 mb | Mixed | |
| Nov 2, 00:00 | 38.0N 184.0E | Tropical storm |
Other Western Pacific storms of 1951
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon GeorgiaWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon HopeWestern Pacific · 1951
- Super Typhoon IrisWestern Pacific · 1951
- Typhoon JoanWestern 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
- 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.