The 1963 season

Super Typhoon Shirley (1963)

Super Typhoon Shirley reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between June 12, 1963 and June 26, 1963, with a lowest pressure of 935 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Shirley, 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
June 12, 1963 to June 26, 1963
Peak strength
Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
Lowest pressure
935 mb (27.61 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
33.7
Identifier
WP041963

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
Jun 12, 06:0012.7N 135.3E1008 mbTropical storm
Jun 12, 12:0012.9N 134.4E1006 mbTropical storm
Jun 12, 18:0013.1N 133.4E1004 mbTropical storm
Jun 13, 00:0013.4N 132.5E1002 mbTropical storm
Jun 13, 06:0013.7N 131.6E60 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jun 13, 12:0013.8N 131.6E65 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jun 13, 18:0013.9N 131.6E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jun 14, 00:0014.1N 131.6E85 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jun 14, 06:0014.3N 131.6E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jun 14, 12:0014.5N 131.6E110 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jun 14, 18:0014.8N 131.7E115 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jun 15, 00:0015.2N 131.6E120 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jun 15, 06:0015.7N 131.4E125 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jun 15, 12:0016.3N 130.9E130 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jun 15, 18:0016.8N 130.4E135 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jun 16, 00:0017.6N 129.9E140 kt935 mbTropical storm
Jun 16, 06:0018.3N 129.3E140 kt935 mbTropical storm
Jun 16, 12:0018.9N 128.6E135 kt935 mbTropical storm
Jun 16, 18:0019.7N 128.0E130 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jun 17, 00:0020.7N 127.5E125 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jun 17, 06:0021.8N 127.3E120 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jun 17, 12:0022.8N 126.7E115 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jun 17, 18:0023.8N 125.8E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jun 18, 00:0024.8N 125.5E105 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jun 18, 06:0025.9N 125.0E105 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jun 18, 12:0026.9N 124.4E100 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jun 18, 18:0028.1N 124.0E95 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jun 19, 00:0029.4N 123.9E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jun 19, 06:0030.6N 124.3E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jun 19, 12:0031.9N 125.1E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jun 19, 18:0033.9N 126.5E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jun 20, 00:0036.1N 128.9E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jun 20, 06:0038.3N 131.5E50 kt990 mbMixed
Jun 20, 12:0040.5N 134.4E50 kt990 mbMixed
Jun 20, 18:0042.6N 138.1E50 kt990 mbMixed
Jun 21, 00:0043.0N 141.0E45 kt990 mbMixed
Jun 21, 06:0044.0N 143.0E35 kt992 mbMixed
Jun 21, 12:0045.3N 146.0E45 kt996 mbMixed
Jun 21, 18:0045.0N 148.0E45 kt998 mbMixed
Jun 22, 00:0044.9N 150.5E45 kt998 mbMixed
Jun 22, 06:0045.0N 152.5E40 kt1000 mbMixed
Jun 22, 12:0044.8N 155.2E35 kt1000 mbMixed
Jun 22, 18:0046.1N 156.4E996 mbExtratropical
Jun 23, 00:0047.2N 158.2E994 mbExtratropical
Jun 23, 06:0048.0N 159.4E992 mbExtratropical
Jun 23, 12:0048.9N 160.5E994 mbExtratropical
Jun 23, 18:0049.5N 161.3E996 mbExtratropical
Jun 24, 00:0050.0N 162.1E996 mbExtratropical
Jun 24, 06:0050.7N 163.0E996 mbExtratropical
Jun 24, 12:0051.5N 164.6E996 mbExtratropical
Jun 24, 18:0052.0N 166.0E996 mbExtratropical
Jun 25, 00:0052.9N 168.6E992 mbExtratropical
Jun 25, 06:0054.0N 172.8E992 mbExtratropical
Jun 25, 12:0055.0N 176.5E992 mbExtratropical
Jun 25, 18:0056.0N 179.6E990 mbExtratropical
Jun 26, 00:0056.5N 181.0EExtratropical

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.