The 1956 season

Super Typhoon Wanda (1956)

Super Typhoon Wanda reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between July 24, 1956 and August 5, 1956, with a lowest pressure of 915 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Wanda, 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
July 24, 1956 to August 5, 1956
Peak strength
Category 5, 160 kt (184 mph)
Lowest pressure
915 mb (27.02 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
42.0
Fastest the center moved
17 kt (20 mph)
Identifier
WP061956

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
Jul 24, 18:0013.2N 144.8EDisturbance
Jul 25, 00:0014.6N 145.6E1008 mbMixed
Jul 25, 06:0015.4N 146.0E1006 mbMixed
Jul 25, 12:0016.2N 146.2E1006 mbMixed
Jul 25, 18:0017.0N 146.5E1005 mbMixed
Jul 26, 00:0017.8N 146.5E1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 06:0018.6N 146.4E1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 12:0019.3N 146.1E1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 18:0019.8N 145.5E1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 00:0020.2N 144.6E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 06:0020.2N 143.5E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 12:0020.1N 143.0E70 kt988 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 18:0020.1N 142.0E90 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 00:0020.1N 141.0E95 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 06:0020.1N 140.3E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 12:0020.2N 139.4E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 18:0020.4N 138.3E120 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 00:0020.5N 137.3E130 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 06:0020.9N 136.3E135 kt935 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 12:0021.2N 135.3E145 kt930 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 18:0021.5N 134.3E150 kt930 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 00:0021.8N 133.0E155 kt920 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 06:0022.0N 132.0E160 kt915 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 12:0022.2N 130.8E155 kt915 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 18:0022.5N 129.5E155 kt915 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 00:0022.7N 128.3E150 kt915 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 06:0023.2N 127.3E145 kt915 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 12:0023.9N 126.5E145 kt915 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 18:0024.8N 126.0E140 kt920 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 00:0025.8N 125.0E140 kt920 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 06:0027.0N 124.0E135 kt920 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 12:0028.3N 123.1E130 kt925 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 18:0029.4N 122.2E130 kt925 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 00:0030.5N 120.9E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 06:0031.0N 119.9E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 12:0031.5N 117.6E45 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 18:0033.0N 116.5E60 kt976 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 00:0033.5N 115.0E50 kt982 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 06:0034.0N 113.0E35 kt986 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 12:0035.0N 112.0E30 kt990 mbMixed
Aug 3, 18:0034.6N 113.8E992 mbMixed
Aug 4, 00:0035.1N 113.5E996 mbMixed
Aug 4, 06:0035.6N 113.2EDisturbance
Aug 4, 12:0036.4N 111.8EDisturbance
Aug 4, 18:0037.3N 110.3EDisturbance
Aug 5, 00:0038.1N 109.1EDisturbance

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.