The 1955 season

Typhoon Iris (1955)

Typhoon Iris reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between August 19, 1955 and August 26, 1955, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Iris, 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
August 19, 1955 to August 26, 1955
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.6
Identifier
WP121955

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
Aug 19, 12:009.4N 137.0ETropical storm
Aug 19, 18:0010.4N 135.5E1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 20, 00:0011.2N 132.9E1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 20, 06:0012.7N 130.2E1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 20, 12:0014.0N 127.9E1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 20, 18:0014.9N 126.5E1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 21, 00:0015.5N 125.7E1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 21, 06:0016.2N 125.1E1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 21, 12:0017.1N 124.5E994 mbTropical storm
Aug 21, 18:0018.1N 124.0E990 mbTropical storm
Aug 22, 00:0019.2N 123.5E985 mbTropical storm
Aug 22, 06:0020.2N 122.9E80 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 22, 12:0020.7N 122.5E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 22, 18:0020.9N 122.3E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 23, 00:0021.3N 122.0E50 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 23, 06:0021.7N 121.8E50 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 23, 12:0022.2N 121.5E50 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 23, 18:0023.5N 120.5E40 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 24, 00:0024.5N 120.6E25 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 24, 06:0025.5N 120.5E25 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 24, 12:0026.6N 120.2E25 kt990 mbMixed
Aug 24, 18:0025.6N 117.5E994 mbMixed
Aug 25, 00:0026.2N 117.2E996 mbMixed
Aug 25, 06:0027.4N 117.9E996 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 12:0027.7N 118.0E996 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 18:0027.9N 118.1E998 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 00:0028.0N 118.1E998 mbTropical storm

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.