The 1955 season

Super Typhoon Kate (1955)

Super Typhoon Kate reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between September 16, 1955 and September 26, 1955, with a lowest pressure of 930 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Kate, 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
September 16, 1955 to September 26, 1955
Peak strength
Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)
Lowest pressure
930 mb (27.46 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
25.8
Fastest the center moved
33 kt (38 mph)
Identifier
WP141955

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
Sep 16, 06:009.5N 152.8E15 ktTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:009.6N 151.8E15 ktTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:009.6N 150.3E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:009.8N 148.9E25 ktTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:009.9N 147.6E25 ktTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0010.0N 146.3E25 ktTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0010.2N 145.3E35 ktTropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0010.6N 144.4E35 ktTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0010.9N 142.9E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0011.5N 141.7E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0012.3N 140.6E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0013.2N 139.1E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0013.9N 137.9E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0014.4N 136.7E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 18:0015.0N 135.5E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 00:0015.3N 133.7E50 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 06:0015.6N 132.8E50 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 12:0015.7N 131.9E60 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 18:0015.8N 131.0E65 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 00:0016.1N 130.2E65 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 06:0016.3N 129.2E80 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 12:0016.5N 128.3E90 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 18:0016.7N 127.3E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 00:0016.8N 126.6E110 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 06:0016.8N 125.8E120 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 12:0016.8N 124.9E120 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 18:0017.2N 124.2E130 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 00:0017.5N 123.5E130 kt930 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 06:0017.8N 122.1E115 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 12:0017.8N 120.8E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 18:0017.8N 119.3E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 00:0017.7N 117.9E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 06:0017.7N 116.5E110 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 12:0017.9N 115.1E120 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 18:0018.2N 113.9E120 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 00:0018.3N 112.3E120 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 06:0018.4N 110.0E120 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 12:0018.0N 108.0E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 18:0018.6N 107.5E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 00:0019.2N 107.0E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 06:0019.0N 106.5E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 12:0018.9N 106.0E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 18:0021.0N 104.0E25 ktTropical 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.