The 1958 season

Super Typhoon Ophelia (1958)

Super Typhoon Ophelia reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between January 6, 1958 and January 18, 1958, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Ophelia, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1958 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
January 6, 1958 to January 18, 1958
Peak strength
Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 821 km (510 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
44.7
Identifier
WP011958

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
Jan 6, 18:003.1N 170.9E1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 00:005.9N 170.9E60 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 06:006.0N 170.0E80 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 12:006.1N 169.5E80 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 18:006.3N 168.0E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 00:006.4N 167.0E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 06:006.6N 166.0E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 12:006.8N 164.9E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 18:007.0N 163.9E120 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 00:007.2N 162.9E120 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 06:007.5N 161.5E120 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 12:007.4N 160.2E120 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 18:007.3N 158.7E120 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 00:007.3N 157.3E120 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 06:007.7N 156.0E110 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 12:007.9N 154.6E110 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 18:007.9N 153.2E110 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 00:007.9N 152.0E95 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 06:007.8N 150.8E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 12:007.9N 149.4E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 18:008.0N 148.0E95 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 00:008.0N 146.7E100 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 06:008.1N 145.3E110 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 12:008.3N 144.0E110 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 18:008.6N 142.7E120 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 00:009.0N 141.4E140 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 06:009.3N 140.3E140 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 12:009.6N 139.1E140 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 18:0010.0N 138.2E130 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 00:0010.3N 137.2E130 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 06:0010.8N 136.5E125 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 12:0011.1N 136.0E125 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 18:0011.5N 135.6E125 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 00:0011.9N 135.3E125 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 06:0012.2N 135.1E125 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 12:0012.4N 135.1E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 18:0012.6N 135.1E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 00:0012.8N 135.0E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 06:0012.9N 135.3E990 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 12:0012.5N 134.3E990 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 18:0013.3N 133.0E990 mbTropical storm
Jan 17, 00:0014.3N 132.9E990 mbTropical storm
Jan 17, 06:0015.1N 133.1E1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 17, 12:0016.0N 133.6E1010 mbTropical storm
Jan 17, 18:0016.8N 134.2EDisturbance
Jan 18, 00:0017.5N 135.0EDisturbance

Other Western Pacific storms of 1958

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.