The 1959 season

Typhoon Freda (1959)

Typhoon Freda reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between November 13, 1959 and November 21, 1959, with a lowest pressure of 945 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Freda, 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 13, 1959 to November 21, 1959
Peak strength
Category 4, 115 kt (132 mph)
Lowest pressure
945 mb (27.91 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
15.7
Identifier
WP211959

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 13, 00:009.1N 137.5E60 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 06:009.4N 136.1E60 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 12:009.6N 134.6E60 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 18:009.7N 133.4E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 00:009.8N 132.4E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 06:0010.0N 131.5E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 12:0010.2N 130.6E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 18:0010.6N 129.6E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 00:0011.0N 128.7E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 06:0011.6N 127.7E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 12:0012.1N 126.7E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 18:0012.7N 125.8E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 00:0013.3N 124.8E95 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 06:0013.9N 123.9E95 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 12:0014.6N 123.0E115 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 18:0015.4N 122.3E105 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 17, 00:0016.3N 121.7E95 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 17, 06:0017.2N 121.3E90 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 17, 12:0018.2N 120.8E75 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 17, 18:0019.4N 120.5E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 18, 00:0020.6N 120.4E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 18, 06:0021.8N 120.7E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 18, 12:0022.9N 121.5E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 18, 18:0024.0N 122.6E60 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 19, 00:0025.0N 124.3E50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 19, 06:0025.9N 126.6E50 kt996 mbMixed
Nov 19, 12:0026.9N 130.2E50 kt996 mbMixed
Nov 19, 18:0028.0N 134.1E50 kt996 mbMixed
Nov 20, 00:0029.0N 138.5E45 kt996 mbMixed
Nov 20, 06:0030.0N 142.5E40 kt998 mbMixed
Nov 20, 12:0031.0N 148.0E35 kt1002 mbMixed
Nov 20, 18:0030.5N 155.0E30 ktMixed
Nov 21, 00:0030.0N 160.0E25 ktMixed

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.