The 1956 season

Super Typhoon Jean (1956)

Super Typhoon Jean reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between October 14, 1956 and October 26, 1956, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Jean, 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
October 14, 1956 to October 26, 1956
Peak strength
Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
35.3
Identifier
WP171956

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
Oct 14, 00:0010.5N 131.5EDisturbance
Oct 14, 06:0011.9N 131.8EDisturbance
Oct 14, 12:0013.0N 132.5EDisturbance
Oct 14, 18:0014.0N 133.6EDisturbance
Oct 15, 00:0015.0N 134.5E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0015.4N 134.5E1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0015.9N 134.5E1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:0016.3N 134.5E1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0016.6N 134.2E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 06:0017.0N 134.0E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0017.5N 133.8E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0018.0N 133.7E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0018.5N 133.6E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0018.9N 132.8E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 12:0019.1N 132.0E95 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 18:0019.7N 131.5E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 00:0020.2N 131.0E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:0020.5N 130.3E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 12:0020.8N 129.5E100 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 18:0020.8N 129.0E100 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 00:0020.7N 128.7E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 06:0020.5N 128.3E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 12:0020.2N 128.0E105 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 18:0019.3N 127.2E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 00:0018.5N 126.3E110 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 06:0017.9N 125.3E120 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 12:0017.8N 124.3E130 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 18:0017.3N 122.8E130 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 00:0017.2N 121.3E130 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 06:0017.1N 120.1E130 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 12:0017.5N 119.0E100 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 18:0017.8N 118.1E80 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 00:0018.3N 117.5E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 06:0018.5N 116.5E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 12:0018.9N 115.8E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 18:0019.2N 115.2E85 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 00:0019.5N 114.5E90 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 06:0019.5N 114.4E95 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 12:0019.5N 114.3E95 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 18:0019.5N 114.2E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 00:0019.6N 114.0E90 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 06:0019.5N 113.9E70 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 12:0019.5N 113.8E70 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 18:0019.4N 113.7E70 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 00:0019.3N 113.5E50 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 06:0018.1N 111.5E40 kt1008 mbMixed
Oct 25, 12:0017.5N 109.0E40 ktTropical storm
Oct 25, 18:0017.3N 107.0E35 ktTropical storm
Oct 26, 00:0017.0N 106.5E35 ktTropical storm
Oct 26, 06:0016.5N 106.0E30 ktTropical storm
Oct 26, 12:0015.0N 105.0E20 ktTropical storm

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.