The 1959 season

Typhoon Ellen (1959)

Typhoon Ellen reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between July 30, 1959 and August 13, 1959, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Ellen, 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
July 30, 1959 to August 13, 1959
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
18.1
Identifier
WP061959

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 30, 00:0020.8N 147.5EDisturbance
Jul 30, 06:0020.6N 146.5EDisturbance
Jul 30, 12:0020.4N 145.5EDisturbance
Jul 30, 18:0020.0N 144.5EDisturbance
Jul 31, 00:0019.6N 143.5EDisturbance
Jul 31, 06:0019.3N 142.5EDisturbance
Jul 31, 12:0018.6N 141.6EDisturbance
Jul 31, 18:0018.1N 140.7EDisturbance
Aug 1, 00:0018.1N 140.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 06:0018.5N 139.3E1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 12:0018.8N 139.0E1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 18:0019.3N 138.6E1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 00:0019.5N 138.2E1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 06:0019.1N 138.1E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 12:0020.1N 137.3E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 18:0021.0N 136.5E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 00:0021.9N 135.7E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 06:0022.7N 134.7E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 12:0023.3N 133.5E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 18:0023.8N 132.3E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 00:0024.0N 131.0E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 06:0024.3N 130.2E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 12:0024.8N 129.4E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 18:0025.4N 128.8E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 00:0026.2N 128.6E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 06:0027.8N 128.2E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 12:0028.7N 127.6E95 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 18:0029.3N 127.3E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 6, 00:0029.8N 127.1E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 6, 06:0030.3N 126.9E85 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 6, 12:0030.8N 126.9E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 6, 18:0031.6N 127.4E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 7, 00:0031.6N 128.2E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 7, 06:0030.8N 128.7E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 7, 12:0030.6N 129.2E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 7, 18:0030.8N 130.0E70 kt966 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 00:0031.5N 131.1E70 kt969 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 06:0032.3N 132.3E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 12:0033.3N 133.7E60 kt972 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 18:0034.2N 135.3E60 kt974 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 00:0034.9N 137.1E55 kt977 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 06:0035.4N 138.9E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 12:0036.0N 141.3E50 kt984 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 18:0036.5N 143.5E40 kt986 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 00:0037.2N 145.5E35 kt988 mbMixed
Aug 10, 06:0038.3N 147.0E35 kt988 mbMixed
Aug 10, 12:0040.0N 148.0E40 kt990 mbMixed
Aug 10, 18:0040.5N 150.2E45 kt992 mbMixed
Aug 11, 00:0041.8N 152.0E45 kt998 mbMixed
Aug 11, 06:0042.5N 153.0E45 kt998 mbMixed
Aug 11, 12:0043.2N 155.0E40 kt998 mbMixed
Aug 11, 18:0043.5N 158.0E40 kt998 mbMixed
Aug 12, 00:0044.0N 161.0E40 kt998 mbMixed
Aug 12, 06:0044.2N 164.5E35 kt998 mbMixed
Aug 12, 12:0044.5N 166.5E35 kt1000 mbMixed
Aug 12, 18:0044.5N 170.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 13, 00:0044.3N 173.2E996 mbExtratropical
Aug 13, 06:0044.4N 178.5E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 13, 12:0046.0N 184.0EExtratropical

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.