The 1955 season

Typhoon Fran (1955)

Typhoon Fran reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between July 18, 1955 and July 24, 1955, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Fran, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1955 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
July 18, 1955 to July 24, 1955
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 176 km (109 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.1
Identifier
WP081955

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
Jul 18, 00:0020.0N 130.6E25 ktTropical storm
Jul 18, 06:0020.3N 131.4E50 ktTropical storm
Jul 18, 12:0020.7N 132.4E50 ktTropical storm
Jul 18, 18:0021.2N 133.3E50 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jul 19, 00:0021.9N 134.2E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jul 19, 06:0022.6N 135.0E85 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 19, 12:0024.4N 136.3E120 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 19, 18:0026.3N 137.6E120 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 00:0028.5N 138.6E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 06:0030.5N 139.5E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 12:0032.4N 140.7E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 18:0033.6N 141.6E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 00:0034.7N 142.7E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 06:0035.5N 144.0E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 12:0036.0N 145.5E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 18:0037.4N 148.4E994 mbMixed
Jul 22, 00:0038.0N 152.0E996 mbMixed
Jul 22, 06:0038.4N 154.5E998 mbMixed
Jul 22, 12:0039.9N 157.4E1000 mbExtratropical
Jul 22, 18:0041.0N 160.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Jul 23, 00:0041.9N 163.3E1004 mbExtratropical
Jul 23, 06:0042.3N 166.8E1004 mbExtratropical
Jul 23, 12:0042.8N 170.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Jul 23, 18:0043.7N 173.2E1004 mbExtratropical
Jul 24, 00:0045.0N 176.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Jul 24, 06:0047.5N 180.0E1008 mbExtratropical
Jul 24, 12:0049.0N 183.0EExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1955

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.