The 1957 season

Typhoon Elaine (1957)

Typhoon Elaine reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between September 14, 1957 and September 21, 1957, with a lowest pressure of 945 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Elaine, 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.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
September 14, 1957 to September 21, 1957
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
945 mb (27.91 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 753 km (468 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
17.5
Identifier
WP121957

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
Sep 14, 18:0017.0N 147.2E90 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0017.3N 146.2E90 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 06:0017.9N 145.0E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 12:0018.4N 143.8E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 18:0018.9N 142.5E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 00:0019.5N 141.5E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 06:0020.5N 140.5E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0021.6N 139.3E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0022.7N 138.5E120 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0023.8N 138.1E120 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0024.9N 138.2E110 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0025.5N 139.0E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0026.7N 140.3E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0028.1N 142.5E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0029.6N 144.8E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0031.5N 148.9E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0033.8N 152.7E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0036.4N 156.6E70 kt990 mbMixed
Sep 19, 06:0038.0N 160.0E70 kt1002 mbMixed
Sep 19, 12:0042.0N 162.0E55 kt1002 mbMixed
Sep 19, 18:0042.5N 165.2E45 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 20, 00:0042.8N 168.5E40 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 20, 06:0043.0N 172.0E30 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 20, 12:0043.1N 175.8E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 20, 18:0043.9N 177.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 21, 00:0044.0N 179.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 21, 06:0045.0N 181.0EExtratropical

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.