The 1956 season

Typhoon Harriet (1956)

Typhoon Harriet reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between September 19, 1956 and September 29, 1956, with a lowest pressure of 953 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Harriet, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1956 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 19, 1956 to September 29, 1956
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
953 mb (28.14 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
14.6
Identifier
WP151956

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 19, 00:0015.2N 142.3E1006 mbMixed
Sep 19, 06:0016.0N 142.5E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 19, 12:0015.8N 142.0E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 19, 18:0015.5N 141.5E25 kt1002 mbMixed
Sep 20, 00:0015.4N 141.0E25 kt1000 mbMixed
Sep 20, 06:0015.2N 140.7E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 12:0014.9N 139.8E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 18:0014.7N 138.9E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 00:0014.7N 137.9E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 06:0014.8N 137.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 12:0015.0N 136.3E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 18:0015.3N 135.9E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 00:0015.7N 135.2E55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 06:0015.9N 134.5E55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 12:0016.0N 133.9E55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 18:0016.2N 133.2E55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 00:0016.5N 132.8E75 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 06:0017.5N 131.5E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 12:0018.5N 130.4E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 18:0019.3N 129.5E75 kt982 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 00:0020.0N 128.7E85 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 06:0020.9N 127.9E85 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 12:0021.9N 127.0E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 18:0022.8N 126.3E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 00:0024.0N 126.2E110 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 06:0025.0N 126.5E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 12:0025.9N 127.0E110 kt953 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 18:0026.7N 127.9E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 00:0027.7N 128.7E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 06:0028.7N 130.0E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 12:0030.3N 132.1E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 18:0032.1N 134.2E70 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 00:0033.9N 136.8E70 kt968 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 06:0035.8N 140.4E984 mbMixed
Sep 27, 12:0039.1N 145.5E980 mbMixed
Sep 27, 18:0043.0N 151.0E980 mbMixed
Sep 28, 00:0049.0N 158.0E982 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 06:0053.5N 166.5E984 mbExtratropical
Sep 28, 12:0056.5N 171.8E980 mbExtratropical
Sep 28, 18:0058.0N 175.5E984 mbExtratropical
Sep 29, 00:0059.0N 183.0EExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1956

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.