Super Typhoon Ruth (1955)

Basin

Western Pacific

Dates

December 12, 1955 to December 18, 1955

Peak strength

Category 5, 180 kt (207 mph)

Lowest pressure

925 mb (27.32 inHg)

Landfall

No; closest approach 366 km (227 mi)

Accumulated cyclone energy

27.5

Identifier

WP221955

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.

• Typhoon VioletWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 170 kt · 995 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression995 mb
• Typhoon WildaWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 285 kt · 985 mb
• Typhoon AnitaWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 3100 kt · 980 mb
• Typhoon BillieWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 3100 kt · 990 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression994 mb
• Typhoon ClaraWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 4125 kt · 920 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression
• Typhoon DotWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 170 kt · 995 mb
• Typhoon EllenWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 170 kt · 955 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Storm50 kt · 990 mb
• Typhoon FranWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 4120 kt · 965 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression990 mb
• Typhoon GeorgiaWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 4120 kt · 980 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression995 mb
• Typhoon HopeWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 175 kt · 975 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression985 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression998 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression1000 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression
• Typhoon IrisWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 180 kt · 965 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression
• Typhoon JoanWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 180 kt · 968 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression
• Super Typhoon KateWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 4130 kt · 930 mb
• Super Typhoon LouiseWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 5150 kt · 930 mb
• Typhoon MargeWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 3100 kt · 965 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression1004 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Storm35 kt
• Typhoon NoraWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 290 kt · 955 mb
• Typhoon OpalWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 285 kt · 982 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Storm40 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1955Tropical Depression
• Super Typhoon PatsyWestern Pacific · 1955Cat 4130 kt · 980 mb

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.

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.