The 1965 season

Super Typhoon Bess (1965)

Super Typhoon Bess reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between September 25, 1965 and October 8, 1965, with a lowest pressure of 900 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Bess, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1965 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
September 25, 1965 to October 8, 1965
Peak strength
Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)
Lowest pressure
900 mb (26.58 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 49 km (30 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
39.6
Identifier
WP291965

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
Sep 25, 12:007.8N 156.2E1008 mbMixed
Sep 25, 18:009.0N 155.0E1006 mbMixed
Sep 26, 00:0010.7N 154.4E1004 mbMixed
Sep 26, 06:0012.2N 153.7E1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 12:0013.5N 153.0E1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 18:0014.9N 151.9E998 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 00:0015.3N 150.2E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 06:0015.4N 149.0E50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 12:0015.4N 147.8E65 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 18:0015.4N 146.6E65 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 00:0015.5N 145.8E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 06:0015.9N 145.0E85 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 12:0016.6N 144.6E85 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 18:0017.0N 144.1E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 00:0017.5N 143.8E110 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 06:0018.0N 143.7E120 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 12:0018.8N 143.6E130 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 18:0019.5N 143.6E130 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 00:0020.3N 143.4E150 kt925 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 06:0020.8N 143.3E150 kt900 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 12:0021.3N 143.5E150 kt900 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 18:0022.1N 143.6E150 kt910 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 00:0023.3N 143.9E150 kt915 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 06:0024.5N 144.3E150 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 12:0025.8N 143.9E130 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 18:0026.8N 143.8E120 kt934 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 00:0027.9N 143.4E120 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 06:0029.1N 143.5E120 kt952 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 12:0030.1N 143.5E110 kt956 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 18:0031.2N 144.2E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 00:0031.9N 145.3E110 kt962 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 06:0032.6N 146.4E90 kt964 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 12:0033.2N 147.7E75 kt966 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 18:0034.2N 148.4E80 kt968 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 00:0035.3N 148.5E120 kt968 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 06:0036.4N 149.5E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 12:0037.2N 150.8E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 18:0039.0N 151.5E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 00:0040.5N 151.0E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 06:0041.5N 151.5E55 kt976 mbMixed
Oct 5, 12:0043.0N 152.5E50 kt978 mbMixed
Oct 5, 18:0043.5N 154.0E45 kt982 mbMixed
Oct 6, 00:0046.5N 153.0E40 kt988 mbMixed
Oct 6, 06:0047.0N 152.0E30 kt990 mbMixed
Oct 6, 12:0050.5N 157.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Oct 6, 18:0052.0N 163.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Oct 7, 00:0053.0N 168.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Oct 7, 06:0053.5N 171.3E996 mbExtratropical
Oct 7, 12:0054.3N 175.2E994 mbExtratropical
Oct 7, 18:0056.0N 178.0E990 mbExtratropical
Oct 8, 00:0056.0N 180.0E990 mbExtratropical
Oct 8, 06:0056.0N 182.5EExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1965

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.