Tropical Storm Rita (1961)

Tropical Storm Rita peaked at 40 kt in the Western Pacific between January 13, 1961 and January 20, 1961, with a lowest pressure of 996 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Rita, 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: January 13, 1961 to January 20, 1961
Peak strength: Tropical Storm, 40 kt (46 mph)
Lowest pressure: 996 mb (29.41 inHg)
Landfall: No; closest approach 616 km (383 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy: 0.8
Identifier: WP011961

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
Jan 13, 12:00	7.0N 141.0E			Disturbance
Jan 13, 18:00	7.3N 139.4E			Disturbance
Jan 14, 00:00	7.6N 137.0E		1004 mb	Mixed
Jan 14, 06:00	7.9N 135.6E		1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 14, 12:00	8.3N 134.7E	25 kt	1002 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 14, 18:00	8.8N 133.4E	25 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 15, 00:00	9.1N 132.5E	30 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 15, 06:00	9.3N 132.2E	30 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 15, 12:00	9.5N 132.0E	35 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 15, 18:00	9.9N 131.8E	35 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 16, 00:00	10.1N 131.8E	40 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 16, 06:00	10.5N 131.9E	40 kt	996 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 16, 12:00	10.9N 132.2E	35 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 16, 18:00	11.3N 132.7E	35 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 17, 00:00	11.7N 133.3E	30 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 17, 06:00	12.1N 133.9E	30 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 17, 12:00	12.3N 134.6E	30 kt	1002 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 17, 18:00	12.6N 135.3E	25 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 18, 00:00	12.8N 136.1E	25 kt	1002 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 18, 06:00	12.9N 137.0E	25 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 18, 12:00	13.0N 137.9E	25 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 18, 18:00	13.1N 138.8E	25 kt	1002 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 19, 00:00	13.1N 139.7E	25 kt	1002 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 19, 06:00	13.2N 140.5E	25 kt	1002 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 19, 12:00	13.4N 141.4E	25 kt	1004 mb	Mixed
Jan 19, 18:00	13.8N 142.1E	25 kt	1006 mb	Mixed
Jan 20, 00:00	14.3N 142.9E	25 kt		Mixed
Jan 20, 06:00	14.9N 143.4E	25 kt		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.