The 1959 season

Typhoon Emma (1959)

Typhoon Emma reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between November 1, 1959 and November 15, 1959, with a lowest pressure of 960 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Emma, 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
November 1, 1959 to November 15, 1959
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
960 mb (28.35 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 285 km (177 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
14.3
Identifier
WP201959

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
Nov 1, 00:006.0N 167.0E1002 mbMixed
Nov 1, 06:006.3N 166.0E1002 mbMixed
Nov 1, 12:006.5N 165.0E1002 mbMixed
Nov 1, 18:006.8N 164.0E1002 mbMixed
Nov 2, 00:007.0N 163.1E1002 mbMixed
Nov 2, 06:007.4N 162.5E1002 mbMixed
Nov 2, 12:007.8N 161.9E1002 mbMixed
Nov 2, 18:008.3N 161.3E1002 mbMixed
Nov 3, 00:008.9N 160.6E1002 mbMixed
Nov 3, 06:009.5N 159.5E1002 mbMixed
Nov 3, 12:009.8N 157.7E1002 mbMixed
Nov 3, 18:0010.1N 155.8E1002 mbMixed
Nov 4, 00:0010.8N 154.0E1002 mbMixed
Nov 4, 06:0011.1N 152.8E1002 mbMixed
Nov 4, 12:0011.3N 151.6E1002 mbMixed
Nov 4, 18:0011.3N 150.4E1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 00:0011.5N 149.3E1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 06:0011.8N 148.2E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 12:0012.0N 147.3E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 18:0012.3N 146.5E25 kt996 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 00:0012.7N 145.6E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 06:0012.9N 144.7E30 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 12:0013.2N 143.7E30 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 18:0013.4N 142.6E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 00:0013.6N 141.3E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 06:0013.7N 140.0E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 12:0013.9N 138.9E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 18:0014.2N 138.2E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 00:0014.5N 137.8E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 06:0014.7N 137.6E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 12:0015.1N 136.6E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 18:0015.3N 135.2E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 00:0015.5N 133.9E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 06:0015.5N 132.5E50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 12:0015.6N 131.3E55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 18:0015.7N 130.3E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 00:0015.8N 129.2E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 06:0016.1N 128.3E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 12:0016.6N 127.4E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 18:0017.2N 126.4E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 00:0018.0N 125.5E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 06:0019.0N 124.9E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 12:0020.2N 124.4E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 18:0021.2N 124.2E110 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 00:0022.2N 124.2E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 06:0023.3N 124.8E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 12:0024.3N 126.2E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 18:0025.7N 128.2E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 00:0026.8N 130.5E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 06:0027.7N 133.3E80 kt980 mbMixed
Nov 13, 12:0028.4N 136.3E70 kt990 mbMixed
Nov 13, 18:0029.4N 140.3E65 kt990 mbMixed
Nov 14, 00:0029.0N 141.5E55 kt996 mbMixed
Nov 14, 06:0028.8N 143.0E45 kt998 mbMixed
Nov 14, 12:0027.5N 146.5E40 kt1000 mbMixed
Nov 14, 18:0028.0N 150.5E35 kt1000 mbMixed
Nov 15, 00:0028.5N 153.5E30 kt1002 mbMixed
Nov 15, 06:0031.0N 166.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Nov 15, 12:0030.5N 169.0E1010 mbExtratropical

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.