Super Typhoon Violet (1961)

Super Typhoon Violet reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 2, 1961 and October 11, 1961, with a lowest pressure of 895 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Violet, 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: October 2, 1961 to October 11, 1961
Peak strength: Category 5, 180 kt (207 mph)
Lowest pressure: 895 mb (26.43 inHg)
Landfall: Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy: 37.6
Identifier: WP231961

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
Oct 2, 18:00	21.8N 151.7E		1008 mb	Mixed
Oct 3, 00:00	21.7N 151.3E		1008 mb	Mixed
Oct 3, 06:00	20.8N 151.0E		1004 mb	Mixed
Oct 3, 12:00	20.0N 150.0E		1004 mb	Mixed
Oct 3, 18:00	19.6N 148.7E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 4, 00:00	19.4N 147.0E	50 kt	1002 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 4, 06:00	18.8N 146.4E	55 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 4, 12:00	18.3N 145.8E	65 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 4, 18:00	17.6N 145.4E	75 kt	996 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 5, 00:00	17.1N 144.9E	85 kt	988 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 5, 06:00	16.6N 144.7E	95 kt	980 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 5, 12:00	16.3N 144.1E	105 kt	980 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 5, 18:00	16.3N 143.7E	115 kt	970 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 6, 00:00	16.5N 143.5E	125 kt	970 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 6, 06:00	17.1N 143.2E	135 kt	960 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 6, 12:00	17.8N 142.8E	145 kt	930 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 6, 18:00	18.6N 142.2E	160 kt	910 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 7, 00:00	19.4N 141.4E	175 kt	900 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 7, 06:00	20.1N 140.9E	180 kt	895 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 7, 12:00	20.9N 140.1E	170 kt	895 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 7, 18:00	21.8N 139.4E	150 kt	895 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 8, 00:00	22.7N 138.7E	135 kt	900 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 8, 06:00	23.8N 137.9E	135 kt	910 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 8, 12:00	25.0N 137.4E	130 kt	915 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 8, 18:00	26.4N 136.8E	125 kt	915 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 9, 00:00	27.8N 136.7E	125 kt	930 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 9, 06:00	29.6N 137.1E	115 kt	930 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 9, 12:00	31.5N 137.8E	100 kt	945 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 9, 18:00	33.6N 138.9E	80 kt	945 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 10, 00:00	35.8N 140.8E	60 kt	970 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 10, 06:00	38.2N 143.3E	50 kt	975 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 10, 12:00	39.7N 145.8E	40 kt	990 mb	Mixed
Oct 10, 18:00	41.0N 147.3E	40 kt	1002 mb	Mixed
Oct 11, 00:00	41.9N 148.0E	40 kt	1004 mb	Mixed
Oct 11, 06:00	43.9N 147.5E	30 kt	1006 mb	Mixed
Oct 11, 12:00	46.5N 146.0E	25 kt	1010 mb	Mixed
Oct 11, 18:00	46.0N 149.7E		1010 mb	Extratropical

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.