Super Typhoon Joan (1959)

Basin

Western Pacific

Dates

August 23, 1959 to September 2, 1959

Peak strength

Category 5, 170 kt (196 mph)

Lowest pressure

885 mb (26.13 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

30.0

Identifier

WP091959

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.

• Tropical Storm RubyWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Storm50 kt · 998 mb
• Tropical Storm SallyWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Storm55 kt · 990 mb
• Typhoon TildaWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 4125 kt · 930 mb
• Tropical Depression VioletWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Depression
• Tropical Depression WildaWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Depression990 mb
• Typhoon BillieWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 290 kt · 970 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Depression
• Typhoon EllenWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 3100 kt · 965 mb
• Typhoon GeorgiaWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 3110 kt · 960 mb
• Tropical Depression HopeWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Depression
• Typhoon IrisWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 290 kt · 965 mb
• Tropical Storm KateWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Storm40 kt · 1000 mb
• Typhoon LouiseWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 4120 kt · 965 mb
• Tropical Depression MargeWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm Opal:RuthWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Storm35 kt
• Tropical Storm NoraWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Storm50 kt · 988 mb
• Super Typhoon SarahWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 5165 kt · 905 mb
• Tropical Depression ThelmaWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Depression
• Super Typhoon VeraWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 5165 kt · 895 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Depression
• Typhoon AmyWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 165 kt · 980 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm BabsWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Storm40 kt · 1004 mb
• Super Typhoon CharlotteWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 5145 kt · 905 mb
• Super Typhoon DinahWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 5150 kt · 915 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Depression
• Typhoon EmmaWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 3110 kt · 960 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1959Tropical Depression
• Typhoon FredaWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 4115 kt · 945 mb
• Super Typhoon GildaWestern Pacific · 1959 · 23 deathsCat 5150 kt · 925 mb
• Super Typhoon HarrietWestern Pacific · 1959Cat 4130 kt · 930 mb

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.

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.