The 1956 season

Typhoon Sarah (1956)

Typhoon Sarah reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between March 21, 1956 and April 5, 1956, with a lowest pressure of 970 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Sarah, 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
March 21, 1956 to April 5, 1956
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Lowest pressure
970 mb (28.64 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 124 km (77 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
27.3
Identifier
WP011956

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, 06:001.7N 153.9E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 21, 12:001.8N 153.4E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 21, 18:002.1N 153.1E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 22, 00:002.2N 152.7E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 22, 06:002.3N 152.2E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 22, 12:002.3N 151.6E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 22, 18:002.4N 151.1E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 23, 00:002.5N 150.5E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 23, 06:002.5N 149.9E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 12:002.6N 149.1E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 18:002.8N 148.3E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 00:003.0N 147.7E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 06:003.3N 146.8E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 12:003.7N 145.8E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 18:004.2N 145.0E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 00:004.9N 144.0E125 kt983 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 06:005.2N 143.6E90 kt983 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 12:005.5N 143.0E60 kt987 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 18:005.7N 142.5E90 kt992 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 00:006.0N 142.0E75 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 06:006.3N 141.3E75 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 12:006.9N 140.9E75 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 18:007.3N 140.5E75 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 00:008.0N 140.2E75 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 06:008.8N 139.7E90 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 12:009.6N 138.8E90 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 18:0010.0N 138.0E90 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 00:0010.5N 137.1E90 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 06:0010.9N 136.1E90 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 12:0011.3N 135.2E90 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 18:0011.7N 134.3E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 00:0012.0N 133.2E100 kt975 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 06:0012.2N 132.3E85 kt975 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 12:0012.6N 131.2E85 kt975 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 18:0013.0N 130.0E85 kt975 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 00:0013.6N 128.8E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 06:0014.1N 127.3E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 12:0014.6N 126.1E85 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 18:0014.8N 125.2E85 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 00:0015.0N 124.8E80 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 06:0015.2N 124.7E80 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 12:0015.3N 124.7E80 kt995 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 18:0015.5N 124.8E80 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 1, 00:0015.6N 124.9E65 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 1, 06:0015.7N 125.0E65 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 1, 12:0015.8N 125.6E65 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 1, 18:0015.8N 126.3E65 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 2, 00:0015.6N 127.0E60 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 2, 06:0015.3N 127.8E60 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 2, 12:0014.9N 128.7E60 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Apr 2, 18:0014.5N 129.5E60 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Apr 3, 00:0013.8N 130.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 3, 06:0013.5N 130.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 3, 12:0013.0N 130.9E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Apr 3, 18:0012.4N 131.1E25 kt1006 mbMixed
Apr 4, 00:0011.9N 131.3E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 4, 06:0011.7N 130.2E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 4, 12:0011.3N 131.0E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 4, 18:0011.1N 131.2E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 00:0010.9N 131.3E35 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 06:0011.1N 131.2E35 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 12:0011.2N 131.1E35 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 18:0011.2N 131.0E25 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.