The 1963 season

Typhoon Elaine (1963)

Typhoon Elaine reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between August 23, 1963 and August 30, 1963, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Elaine, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1963 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 23, 1963 to August 30, 1963
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 908 km (564 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.9
Identifier
WP121963

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
Aug 23, 00:0017.3N 164.4E1006 mbMixed
Aug 23, 06:0018.2N 163.3E1004 mbMixed
Aug 23, 12:0019.0N 162.5E1004 mbMixed
Aug 23, 18:0020.0N 161.8E1004 mbMixed
Aug 24, 00:0021.0N 161.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 24, 06:0021.8N 160.0E995 mbTropical storm
Aug 24, 12:0022.3N 158.8E995 mbTropical storm
Aug 24, 18:0022.7N 157.8E995 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 00:0023.4N 156.9E995 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 06:0024.3N 156.2E995 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 12:0024.3N 155.3E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 18:0025.4N 154.6E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 00:0026.5N 154.0E60 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 06:0027.7N 153.7E70 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 12:0028.9N 153.6E75 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 18:0030.1N 153.8E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 00:0031.3N 154.5E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 06:0032.7N 155.9E100 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 12:0034.3N 157.6E95 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0035.8N 159.7E85 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0037.3N 162.3E75 kt980 mbMixed
Aug 28, 06:0039.0N 165.0E65 kt975 mbMixed
Aug 28, 12:0041.5N 163.5E980 mbExtratropical
Aug 28, 18:0043.3N 164.4E980 mbExtratropical
Aug 29, 00:0044.2N 165.2E980 mbExtratropical
Aug 29, 06:0044.8N 166.2E980 mbExtratropical
Aug 29, 12:0045.1N 167.1E972 mbExtratropical
Aug 29, 18:0045.4N 168.3E980 mbExtratropical
Aug 30, 00:0045.5N 170.0E986 mbExtratropical
Aug 30, 06:0045.7N 173.0E990 mbExtratropical
Aug 30, 12:0046.1N 177.1E990 mbExtratropical
Aug 30, 18:0046.9N 182.4EExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1963

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.