Super Typhoon Thelma (1956)

Basin

Western Pacific

Dates

April 16, 1956 to April 25, 1956

Peak strength

Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)

Lowest pressure

935 mb (27.61 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

34.2

Fastest the center moved

22 kt (25 mph)

Identifier

WP031956

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.

• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Typhoon SarahWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 4125 kt · 970 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Storm40 kt · 1002 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Storm40 kt · 1000 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Typhoon VeraWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 180 kt · 990 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Super Typhoon WandaWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 5160 kt · 915 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Typhoon AmyWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 165 kt · 965 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Storm40 kt · 998 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Typhoon BabsWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 3100 kt · 960 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Typhoon CharlotteWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 3110 kt · 975 mb
• Typhoon DinahWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 295 kt · 970 mb
• Super Typhoon EmmaWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 4135 kt · 930 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Typhoon FredaWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 285 kt · 975 mb
• Super Typhoon GildaWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 5140 kt · 935 mb
• Typhoon HarrietWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 3110 kt · 953 mb
• Typhoon IvyWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 165 kt · 990 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Super Typhoon JeanWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 4130 kt · 940 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Storm40 kt
• Typhoon Karen:LucilleWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 295 kt · 975 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Tropical Depression MaryWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression995 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression
• Typhoon NadineWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 175 kt · 990 mb
• Typhoon OliveWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 175 kt · 990 mb
• Typhoon PollyWestern Pacific · 1956Cat 285 kt · 980 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1956Tropical Depression

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.