The 1959 season

Super Typhoon Dinah (1959)

Super Typhoon Dinah reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 12, 1959 and October 25, 1959, with a lowest pressure of 915 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Dinah, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1959 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
October 12, 1959 to October 25, 1959
Peak strength
Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)
Lowest pressure
915 mb (27.02 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 317 km (197 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
49.2
Identifier
WP191959

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
Oct 12, 18:007.0N 168.0E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 00:007.1N 166.1E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:007.5N 164.5E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:008.0N 163.0E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:008.5N 161.5E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:008.8N 160.0E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:009.0N 158.5E1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:009.3N 157.0E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:009.7N 155.1E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:009.8N 154.0E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:009.9N 152.7E50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0010.0N 151.2E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:0010.1N 149.6E80 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0010.5N 147.9E110 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 06:0011.0N 145.9E125 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0011.7N 143.9E125 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0012.3N 141.8E125 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0012.8N 140.1E130 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0013.3N 138.6E140 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 12:0013.7N 137.2E150 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 18:0014.2N 136.2E150 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 00:0014.7N 135.5E145 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:0015.4N 135.1E140 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 12:0016.2N 134.9E140 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 18:0017.0N 134.8E140 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 00:0017.8N 134.7E145 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 06:0018.8N 134.8E150 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 12:0019.8N 134.9E150 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 18:0020.8N 135.1E150 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 00:0022.1N 135.2E150 kt915 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 06:0023.6N 135.2E150 kt915 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 12:0025.3N 135.3E150 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 18:0027.1N 136.3E145 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 00:0029.0N 138.2E135 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 06:0030.7N 140.1E120 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 12:0032.7N 142.5E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 18:0034.8N 144.8E80 kt970 mbMixed
Oct 22, 00:0036.2N 147.5E40 kt980 mbMixed
Oct 22, 06:0037.0N 153.0E45 kt980 mbMixed
Oct 22, 12:0038.5N 158.0E50 kt980 mbMixed
Oct 22, 18:0040.0N 161.2E50 kt980 mbMixed
Oct 23, 00:0042.0N 164.0E50 kt974 mbMixed
Oct 23, 06:0043.0N 167.0E50 kt972 mbMixed
Oct 23, 12:0044.0N 170.0E50 kt972 mbMixed
Oct 23, 18:0044.5N 174.5E50 kt972 mbMixed
Oct 24, 00:0045.0N 178.0W50 ktMixed
Oct 24, 06:0045.2N 173.5W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 24, 12:0045.5N 168.5W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 24, 18:0046.0N 166.0W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 25, 00:0047.0N 163.0W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 25, 06:0047.5N 160.0W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 25, 12:0048.0N 157.0W30 ktTropical storm

Other Western Pacific storms of 1959

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.