The 1959 season

Typhoon Louise (1959)

Typhoon Louise reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between August 29, 1959 and September 9, 1959, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Louise, 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
August 29, 1959 to September 9, 1959
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.8
Identifier
WP111959

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
Aug 29, 06:0011.6N 147.6E1007 mbMixed
Aug 29, 12:0012.5N 145.5E1008 mbMixed
Aug 29, 18:0013.3N 143.5E1007 mbMixed
Aug 30, 00:0014.4N 141.2E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Aug 30, 06:0014.5N 140.0E20 kt1006 mbMixed
Aug 30, 12:0014.5N 138.8E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Aug 30, 18:0014.5N 137.7E25 kt1006 mbMixed
Aug 31, 00:0014.5N 136.6E30 kt1004 mbMixed
Aug 31, 06:0014.5N 135.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 12:0014.6N 133.9E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 18:0014.7N 132.6E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 00:0014.9N 131.2E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 06:0015.2N 130.0E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 12:0015.5N 128.8E70 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 18:0016.0N 127.6E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 00:0016.8N 126.3E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 06:0017.8N 125.3E75 kt975 mbXX
Sep 2, 12:0018.9N 124.5E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 18:0020.1N 123.7E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 00:0021.5N 123.1E110 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 06:0022.8N 122.4E120 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 12:0023.9N 121.6E110 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 18:0024.6N 121.1E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 00:0025.2N 120.6E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 06:0025.7N 120.2E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 12:0026.2N 120.1E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0026.7N 120.0E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0027.2N 120.0E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0028.0N 120.2E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0029.0N 120.5E20 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0030.2N 121.1E20 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0031.3N 121.8E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 06:0032.6N 122.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0033.8N 122.5E30 kt1000 mbMixed
Sep 6, 18:0035.2N 122.8E35 kt998 mbMixed
Sep 7, 00:0036.3N 123.4E40 kt996 mbMixed
Sep 7, 06:0037.7N 124.7E40 kt996 mbMixed
Sep 7, 12:0038.5N 127.0E35 kt998 mbMixed
Sep 7, 18:0043.0N 124.7E1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 8, 00:0044.0N 124.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 8, 06:0044.5N 123.5E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 8, 12:0044.5N 122.5E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 8, 18:0044.5N 121.5E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 9, 00:0044.5N 121.0E1004 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.