Super Typhoon Ellen (1961)

Super Typhoon Ellen reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between December 5, 1961 and December 14, 1961, with a lowest pressure of 945 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Ellen, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1961 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin: Western Pacific
Dates: December 5, 1961 to December 14, 1961
Peak strength: Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)
Lowest pressure: 945 mb (27.91 inHg)
Landfall: No; closest approach 11 km (7 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy: 25.5
Identifier: WP271961

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)	Position	Wind	Pressure	Status
Dec 5, 06:00	8.0N 136.8E	30 kt		Mixed
Dec 5, 12:00	8.5N 135.7E	30 kt		Mixed
Dec 5, 18:00	9.0N 134.7E	30 kt	1002 mb	Mixed
Dec 6, 00:00	9.5N 133.7E	30 kt	1004 mb	Mixed
Dec 6, 06:00	10.0N 132.8E	30 kt	1002 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 6, 12:00	10.4N 132.0E	30 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 6, 18:00	10.8N 131.2E	30 kt	1002 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 7, 00:00	11.2N 130.3E	40 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 7, 06:00	11.6N 129.5E	50 kt	995 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 7, 12:00	11.9N 128.7E	70 kt	985 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 7, 18:00	12.2N 128.0E	80 kt	975 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 8, 00:00	12.6N 127.3E	100 kt	965 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 8, 06:00	13.0N 126.6E	110 kt	960 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 8, 12:00	13.5N 125.9E	125 kt	955 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 8, 18:00	13.8N 125.2E	130 kt	950 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 9, 00:00	14.0N 124.5E	130 kt	950 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 9, 06:00	14.3N 124.0E	120 kt	945 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 9, 12:00	14.6N 123.8E	110 kt	945 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 9, 18:00	14.9N 123.7E	100 kt	950 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 10, 00:00	15.2N 123.8E	100 kt	955 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 10, 06:00	15.6N 124.0E	105 kt	960 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 10, 12:00	15.9N 124.3E	115 kt	960 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 10, 18:00	16.3N 124.5E	120 kt	960 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 11, 00:00	16.9N 124.5E	125 kt	950 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 11, 06:00	17.5N 124.7E	120 kt	955 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 11, 12:00	18.0N 125.1E	115 kt	955 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 11, 18:00	18.4N 125.5E	115 kt	960 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 12, 00:00	18.9N 125.9E	100 kt	970 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 12, 06:00	19.3N 126.3E	80 kt	980 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 12, 12:00	19.9N 126.5E	60 kt	990 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 12, 18:00	20.4N 126.8E	40 kt	990 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 13, 00:00	20.8N 127.3E	35 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 13, 06:00	21.1N 127.9E	35 kt	1002 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 13, 12:00	21.3N 128.5E	35 kt	1004 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 13, 18:00	21.5N 129.1E	35 kt	1006 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 14, 00:00	19.8N 127.9E		1010 mb	Mixed
Dec 14, 06:00	18.6N 127.5E		1010 mb	Mixed

Other Western Pacific storms of 1961

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.