The 1959 season

Super Typhoon Sarah (1959)

Super Typhoon Sarah reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between September 10, 1959 and September 23, 1959, with a lowest pressure of 905 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Sarah, 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
September 10, 1959 to September 23, 1959
Peak strength
Category 5, 165 kt (190 mph)
Lowest pressure
905 mb (26.72 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
32.9
Fastest the center moved
35 kt (40 mph)
Identifier
WP141959

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
Sep 10, 12:0013.6N 148.3EDisturbance
Sep 10, 18:0013.6N 147.4EDisturbance
Sep 11, 00:0013.8N 146.4E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Sep 11, 06:0013.6N 145.6E20 kt1006 mbMixed
Sep 11, 12:0013.5N 144.3E20 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 18:0013.4N 143.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 00:0013.5N 141.5E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 06:0014.0N 140.1E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 12:0014.7N 138.7E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 18:0015.5N 137.1E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 00:0016.4N 135.6E100 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 06:0017.3N 134.1E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0018.2N 132.6E115 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0018.9N 131.2E120 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0019.7N 129.8E120 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0020.5N 128.6E125 kt935 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0021.2N 127.7E140 kt920 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 18:0021.9N 126.9E150 kt920 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0022.8N 126.3E160 kt905 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 06:0023.9N 125.7E165 kt905 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 12:0025.2N 125.2E140 kt905 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 18:0026.2N 125.0E115 kt905 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 00:0027.4N 124.9E110 kt905 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 06:0028.7N 125.1E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0030.2N 125.8E110 kt935 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0032.1N 126.8E115 kt935 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0034.2N 128.1E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0036.2N 129.8E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0038.0N 132.0E85 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0040.1N 134.8E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0041.9N 138.0E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0043.1N 141.1E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0044.8N 143.6E75 kt974 mbXX
Sep 18, 18:0046.8N 145.5E65 kt976 mbXX
Sep 19, 00:0048.8N 146.8E55 kt984 mbXX
Sep 19, 06:0050.4N 147.3E45 kt984 mbXX
Sep 19, 12:0048.5N 143.0E35 kt984 mbMixed
Sep 19, 18:0049.0N 143.0E30 kt990 mbMixed
Sep 20, 00:0050.0N 141.0E996 mbExtratropical
Sep 20, 06:0050.0N 140.0E998 mbExtratropical
Sep 20, 12:0050.0N 139.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 20, 18:0049.1N 139.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Sep 21, 00:0048.6N 141.5E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 21, 06:0048.6N 142.5E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 21, 12:0048.5N 147.0E1006 mbExtratropical
Sep 21, 18:0048.0N 149.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 22, 00:0048.0N 150.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 22, 06:0047.0N 155.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 22, 12:0047.0N 157.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 22, 18:0046.5N 159.5E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 23, 00:0046.5N 162.0E1006 mbExtratropical
Sep 23, 06:0046.5N 163.5E1008 mbExtratropical
Sep 23, 12:0047.0N 166.0E1008 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.