The 1961 season

Unnamed tropical depression (1961)

Unnamed tropical depression peaked at unknown kt in the South Pacific between January 14, 1961 and January 27, 1961, with a lowest pressure of 920 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Unnamed tropical depression. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
January 14, 1961 to January 27, 1961
Peak strength
Tropical Depression
Lowest pressure
920 mb (27.17 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
0.0
Identifier
SH131961

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
Jan 14, 00:009.9S 135.1ENot reported
Jan 14, 06:009.8S 134.9ENot reported
Jan 14, 12:009.8S 134.7ENot reported
Jan 14, 18:009.7S 134.5ENot reported
Jan 15, 00:009.7S 134.1ETropical storm
Jan 15, 06:009.7S 133.2ETropical storm
Jan 15, 12:009.7S 132.1ETropical storm
Jan 15, 18:009.9S 131.0ETropical storm
Jan 16, 00:0010.1S 130.0ETropical storm
Jan 16, 06:0010.5S 129.2ETropical storm
Jan 16, 12:0010.9S 128.5ETropical storm
Jan 16, 18:0011.5S 127.6ETropical storm
Jan 17, 00:0011.8S 126.9ETropical storm
Jan 17, 06:0011.9S 126.6ETropical storm
Jan 17, 12:0011.9S 126.5ETropical storm
Jan 17, 18:0012.0S 126.3ETropical storm
Jan 18, 00:0012.0S 126.1ETropical storm
Jan 18, 06:0012.2S 125.8ETropical storm
Jan 18, 12:0012.3S 125.6ETropical storm
Jan 18, 18:0012.4S 125.4ETropical storm
Jan 19, 00:0012.5S 125.0ETropical storm
Jan 19, 06:0013.1S 124.2ENot reported
Jan 19, 12:0013.8S 123.4ENot reported
Jan 19, 18:0014.8S 122.6ENot reported
Jan 20, 00:0015.3S 121.8ENot reported
Jan 20, 06:0015.5S 121.5ENot reported
Jan 20, 12:0015.6S 121.4ENot reported
Jan 20, 18:0015.8S 121.3ENot reported
Jan 21, 00:0015.9S 121.0ETropical storm
Jan 21, 06:0016.4S 120.2ETropical storm
Jan 21, 12:0016.9S 119.1ETropical storm
Jan 21, 18:0017.5S 117.9ETropical storm
Jan 22, 00:0018.0S 117.2ETropical storm
Jan 22, 06:0018.2S 116.9ETropical storm
Jan 22, 12:0018.3S 116.7ETropical storm
Jan 22, 18:0018.6S 116.4ETropical storm
Jan 23, 00:0019.2S 116.1ETropical storm
Jan 23, 06:0020.1S 115.6ETropical storm
Jan 23, 12:0021.1S 115.0E960 mbTropical storm
Jan 23, 18:0018.7S 115.6ETropical storm
Jan 24, 00:0019.1S 115.3ETropical storm
Jan 24, 06:0019.7S 115.0ETropical storm
Jan 24, 12:0020.5S 114.9ETropical storm
Jan 24, 18:0021.6S 114.9ETropical storm
Jan 25, 00:0022.8S 115.1ETropical storm
Jan 25, 06:0024.1S 115.5ETropical storm
Jan 25, 12:0025.3S 115.9ETropical storm
Jan 25, 18:0026.4S 116.4ETropical storm
Jan 26, 00:0027.5S 117.2ETropical storm
Jan 26, 06:0028.6S 118.5ETropical storm
Jan 26, 12:0029.6S 120.3ETropical storm
Jan 26, 18:0030.6S 122.4ETropical storm
Jan 27, 00:0031.6S 124.8ETropical storm

Other South 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.