The 1959 season

Super Typhoon Gilda (1959)

Super Typhoon Gilda reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between December 11, 1959 and December 22, 1959, with a lowest pressure of 925 mb, and made landfall. It killed 23 people, as Wikidata records it.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Gilda, 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
December 11, 1959 to December 22, 1959
Peak strength
Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)
Lowest pressure
925 mb (27.32 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
39.3
Fastest the center moved
19 kt (22 mph)
Identifier
WP221959

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

Wikidata

23 deathsno damage figure

A community-maintained total, usually direct and indirect deaths together and damage worldwide. Joined to this storm by its IBTrACS serial, not by name.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Dec 11, 18:006.3N 146.5E1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 00:006.7N 146.1E1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 06:007.0N 145.3E1000 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 12:007.2N 144.6E995 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 18:007.5N 143.9E995 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 00:007.1N 143.4E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 06:007.2N 142.9E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 12:007.3N 142.3E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 18:007.3N 141.5E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 00:007.4N 140.5E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 06:007.6N 139.5E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 12:007.8N 138.5E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 18:008.0N 137.5E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 00:008.1N 136.6E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 06:008.3N 135.8E105 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 12:008.5N 134.9E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 18:008.8N 133.9E120 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 00:009.3N 132.7E120 kt935 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 06:009.9N 131.5E130 kt930 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 12:0010.4N 130.2E130 kt930 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 18:0010.9N 129.2E140 kt925 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 00:0011.2N 128.4E145 kt930 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 06:0011.5N 127.8E150 kt935 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 12:0011.7N 127.3E150 kt935 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 18:0012.0N 126.6E150 kt935 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 00:0012.2N 125.7E140 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 06:0012.2N 124.7E130 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 12:0012.2N 123.5E115 kt950 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 18:0012.2N 122.4E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 00:0012.2N 121.2E115 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 06:0012.2N 120.1E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 12:0012.3N 118.9E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 18:0012.5N 117.8E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 00:0012.6N 116.7E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 06:0012.6N 115.5E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 12:0012.6N 114.3E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 18:0012.6N 112.8E85 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 00:0012.4N 111.4E85 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 06:0012.1N 110.1E70 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 12:0011.8N 109.1E60 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 18:0011.6N 108.5E50 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 00:0011.6N 106.5E40 ktTropical storm
Dec 22, 06:0011.5N 105.0E30 ktTropical storm
Dec 22, 12:0011.4N 103.5E20 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.