The 1957 season

Typhoon Bess (1957)

Typhoon Bess reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between August 26, 1957 and September 10, 1957, with a lowest pressure of 950 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Bess, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1957 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
August 26, 1957 to September 10, 1957
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
950 mb (28.05 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
30.6
Identifier
WP091957

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
Aug 26, 06:0014.0N 153.0E1005 mbMixed
Aug 26, 12:0015.0N 152.6E1006 mbMixed
Aug 26, 18:0015.8N 152.0E1005 mbMixed
Aug 27, 00:0015.5N 150.3E30 kt1005 mbMixed
Aug 27, 06:0015.5N 149.6E30 kt1002 mbMixed
Aug 27, 12:0015.6N 148.9E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0015.7N 148.2E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0016.0N 147.6E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 06:0016.3N 146.2E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 12:0016.9N 145.5E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 18:0017.5N 145.0E50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 00:0018.2N 144.5E65 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 06:0019.5N 143.8E70 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 12:0020.4N 143.2E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 18:0021.5N 142.8E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 00:0022.7N 142.2E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 06:0023.8N 141.8E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 12:0024.3N 141.4E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0024.9N 141.1E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 00:0025.5N 140.8E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 06:0026.1N 140.2E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 12:0026.5N 139.3E95 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 18:0026.7N 139.0E95 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 00:0027.1N 138.5E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 06:0027.1N 138.3E100 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 12:0027.1N 137.9E100 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 18:0027.0N 137.7E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 00:0027.1N 137.1E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 06:0027.4N 136.6E95 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 12:0027.7N 136.1E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 18:0027.8N 135.3E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 00:0028.0N 135.0E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 06:0028.1N 134.5E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 12:0028.2N 134.2E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 18:0028.4N 133.7E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 00:0028.4N 133.5E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 06:0028.0N 132.3E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 12:0027.8N 131.4E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0027.8N 130.3E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0028.0N 129.3E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0028.1N 128.9E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0028.5N 128.6E95 kt958 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0029.7N 128.8E95 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0030.3N 129.0E85 kt958 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 06:0030.8N 129.8E80 kt958 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0031.6N 130.5E75 kt956 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 18:0032.2N 131.1E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 00:0032.9N 132.6E50 kt982 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 06:0035.0N 134.1E50 kt991 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 12:0037.5N 137.3E50 kt995 mbMixed
Sep 7, 18:0040.5N 140.6E40 kt998 mbMixed
Sep 8, 00:0042.0N 145.0E35 kt998 mbMixed
Sep 8, 06:0044.2N 148.5E35 kt998 mbMixed
Sep 8, 12:0046.5N 153.0E55 kt996 mbMixed
Sep 8, 18:0047.0N 156.5E45 kt996 mbMixed
Sep 9, 00:0047.5N 160.5E40 kt994 mbMixed
Sep 9, 06:0048.0N 164.5E35 kt990 mbMixed
Sep 9, 12:0048.5N 168.0E986 mbExtratropical
Sep 9, 18:0048.6N 172.0E990 mbExtratropical
Sep 10, 00:0047.7N 176.8E988 mbExtratropical
Sep 10, 06:0047.5N 183.5EExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1957

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.