Super Typhoon Opal (1964)

Basin

Western Pacific

Dates

December 8, 1964 to December 18, 1964

Peak strength

Category 5, 170 kt (196 mph)

Lowest pressure

900 mb (26.58 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

41.1

Identifier

WP391964

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.

• Typhoon TessWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 285 kt · 960 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Depression
• Typhoon ViolaWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 170 kt · 980 mb
• Typhoon WinnieWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 3100 kt · 968 mb
• Typhoon AliceWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 165 kt · 1000 mb
• Typhoon BettyWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 3110 kt · 960 mb
• Super Typhoon CoraWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 5140 kt · 970 mb
• Typhoon DorisWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 180 kt · 995 mb
• Typhoon ElsieWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 3100 kt · 1000 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Depression
• Typhoon FlossieWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 180 kt · 980 mb
• Tropical Storm GraceWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Storm50 kt · 998 mb
• Super Typhoon HelenWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 4130 kt · 930 mb
• Super Typhoon IdaWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 4135 kt · 925 mb
• Tropical Storm JuneWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Storm40 kt · 998 mb
• Typhoon KathyWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 4115 kt · 948 mb
• Tropical Storm LornaWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Storm35 kt · 1002 mb
• Typhoon MarieWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 170 kt · 980 mb
• Tropical Storm NancyWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Storm35 kt
• Tropical Storm OlgaWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Storm45 kt
• Tropical Storm PamelaWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Storm50 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Depression
• Typhoon RubyWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 4120 kt · 970 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Depression
• Super Typhoon SallyWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 5170 kt · 895 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Depression
• Typhoon TildaWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 3110 kt · 965 mb
• Typhoon VioletWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 175 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Depression
• Super Typhoon WildaWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 5150 kt · 895 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm AnitaWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Storm50 kt · 996 mb
• Tropical Storm BillieWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Storm60 kt · 994 mb
• Typhoon ClaraWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 180 kt · 980 mb
• Typhoon DotWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 290 kt · 980 mb
• Tropical Storm EllenWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Storm45 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm FranWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Storm50 kt · 996 mb
• Tropical Storm GeorgiaWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Storm45 kt · 994 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Depression
• Typhoon HopeWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 175 kt · 975 mb
• Typhoon IrisWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 165 kt · 996 mb
• Typhoon JoanWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 170 kt · 1000 mb
• Typhoon KateWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 180 kt · 990 mb
• Super Typhoon Louise:MargeWestern Pacific · 1964Cat 5165 kt · 915 mb
• Tropical Storm NoraWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Storm55 kt · 995 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1964Tropical Depression

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.

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.