Typhoon Kathy (1961)

Typhoon Kathy reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between August 13, 1961 and August 19, 1961, with a lowest pressure of 988 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Kathy, 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.

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The storm

Basin: Western Pacific
Dates: August 13, 1961 to August 19, 1961
Peak strength: Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure: 988 mb (29.18 inHg)
Landfall: Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy: 3.7
Identifier: WP381961

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
Aug 13, 00:00	13.8N 142.9E			Disturbance
Aug 13, 06:00	14.6N 143.1E			Disturbance
Aug 13, 12:00	15.3N 143.2E			Disturbance
Aug 13, 18:00	16.3N 142.8E		1002 mb	Mixed
Aug 14, 00:00	16.9N 142.2E		1002 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 14, 06:00	17.6N 141.1E		1000 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 14, 12:00	18.2N 140.8E		1000 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 14, 18:00	18.8N 140.7E		1000 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 15, 00:00	19.2N 140.5E		998 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 15, 06:00	19.7N 140.3E		996 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 15, 12:00	20.1N 140.0E		994 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 15, 18:00	25.9N 139.1E	60 kt	994 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 16, 00:00	27.2N 138.1E	70 kt	995 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 16, 06:00	28.4N 136.9E	70 kt	995 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 16, 12:00	29.4N 135.6E	70 kt	990 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 16, 18:00	30.2N 134.3E	70 kt	990 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 17, 00:00	31.1N 133.7E	80 kt	990 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 17, 06:00	31.5N 132.8E	70 kt	988 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 17, 12:00	31.8N 132.2E	50 kt	990 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 17, 18:00	32.2N 131.7E	30 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Aug 18, 00:00	32.4N 131.0E	20 kt	1006 mb	Mixed
Aug 18, 06:00	32.7N 130.3E	10 kt	1006 mb	Mixed
Aug 18, 12:00	32.9N 129.6E		1006 mb	Mixed
Aug 18, 18:00	33.4N 129.4E		1008 mb	Mixed
Aug 19, 00:00	34.1N 130.1E			Disturbance
Aug 19, 06:00	34.7N 132.0E			Disturbance

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.