The 1955 season

Typhoon Wilda (1955)

Typhoon Wilda reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between March 21, 1955 and March 30, 1955, with a lowest pressure of 985 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Wilda, 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
March 21, 1955 to March 30, 1955
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
985 mb (29.09 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1880 km (1168 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.3
Identifier
WP021955

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
Mar 21, 06:006.7N 168.2E998 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 12:007.2N 167.8E998 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 18:007.7N 167.4E996 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 00:008.4N 167.1E996 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 06:009.2N 166.3E995 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 12:007.9N 166.8E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 18:008.3N 165.9E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 00:008.9N 165.1E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 06:009.8N 164.5E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 12:0011.2N 164.2E20 kt998 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 18:0012.3N 164.0E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 00:0013.5N 163.3E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 06:0014.5N 162.6E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 12:0015.5N 161.8E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 18:0016.4N 161.1E55 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 00:0017.4N 160.5E60 kt999 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 06:0018.3N 159.7E60 kt995 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 12:0019.2N 158.9E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 18:0020.4N 158.3E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 00:0021.6N 158.3E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 06:0022.7N 158.6E75 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 12:0023.4N 158.2E75 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 18:0024.5N 157.9E80 kt995 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 00:0024.8N 158.7E85 kt995 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 06:0025.2N 160.3E70 kt995 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 12:0025.6N 161.7E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 18:0025.9N 163.2E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 00:0026.4N 164.5E25 kt1005 mbMixed
Mar 28, 06:0027.0N 165.0E30 kt1006 mbMixed
Mar 28, 12:0027.2N 166.0E25 kt1006 mbMixed
Mar 28, 18:0027.5N 167.0E25 kt1006 mbMixed
Mar 29, 00:0027.6N 169.4E1008 mbMixed
Mar 29, 06:0027.9N 170.6E1010 mbMixed
Mar 29, 12:0028.3N 171.9E1010 mbMixed
Mar 29, 18:0028.8N 173.2E1012 mbMixed
Mar 30, 00:0029.2N 174.1E1014 mbExtratropical
Mar 30, 06:0029.6N 175.3E1012 mbExtratropical
Mar 30, 12:0029.9N 176.4E1014 mbExtratropical
Mar 30, 18:0030.1N 177.1E1016 mbExtratropical

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.