Typhoon Elsie (1966)

Typhoon Elsie reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between September 8, 1966 and September 19, 1966, with a lowest pressure of 945 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Elsie, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1966 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: September 8, 1966 to September 19, 1966
Peak strength: Category 4, 115 kt (132 mph)
Lowest pressure: 945 mb (27.91 inHg)
Landfall: Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy: 16.4
Identifier: WP191966

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
Sep 8, 18:00	17.3N 111.5E		1002 mb	Mixed
Sep 9, 00:00	17.5N 111.7E		1002 mb	Mixed
Sep 9, 06:00	17.8N 111.9E		1002 mb	Mixed
Sep 9, 12:00	17.9N 112.5E		1004 mb	Mixed
Sep 9, 18:00	18.5N 112.6E		1004 mb	Mixed
Sep 10, 00:00	18.9N 113.1E		1004 mb	Mixed
Sep 10, 06:00	18.8N 114.4E		1004 mb	Mixed
Sep 10, 12:00	18.8N 115.7E		1004 mb	Mixed
Sep 10, 18:00	18.5N 116.5E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 11, 00:00	18.3N 117.0E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 11, 06:00	18.2N 117.5E		1002 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 11, 12:00	18.0N 118.0E		1000 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 11, 18:00	18.7N 118.0E	40 kt	996 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 12, 00:00	18.5N 118.3E	45 kt	990 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 12, 06:00	17.9N 118.3E	55 kt	985 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 12, 12:00	17.4N 118.1E	55 kt	978 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 12, 18:00	17.7N 118.0E	60 kt	978 mb	Tropical storm
Sep 13, 00:00	18.1N 117.8E	65 kt	978 mb	XX
Sep 13, 06:00	18.4N 117.6E	70 kt	978 mb	XX
Sep 13, 12:00	18.7N 117.4E	80 kt	976 mb	XX
Sep 13, 18:00	19.2N 117.4E	85 kt	974 mb	XX
Sep 14, 00:00	19.6N 117.4E	85 kt	972 mb	XX
Sep 14, 06:00	20.2N 117.5E	90 kt	968 mb	XX
Sep 14, 12:00	20.6N 117.6E	90 kt	966 mb	XX
Sep 14, 18:00	21.0N 117.7E	100 kt	955 mb	XX
Sep 15, 00:00	21.3N 117.8E	115 kt	945 mb	XX
Sep 15, 06:00	21.6N 118.2E	115 kt	945 mb	XX
Sep 15, 12:00	21.9N 118.8E	115 kt	960 mb	XX
Sep 15, 18:00	22.1N 119.6E	115 kt	970 mb	XX
Sep 16, 00:00	22.3N 120.6E	115 kt	970 mb	XX
Sep 16, 06:00	22.7N 121.8E	80 kt	977 mb	XX
Sep 16, 12:00	23.4N 122.9E	70 kt	977 mb	XX
Sep 16, 18:00	24.3N 123.7E	65 kt	980 mb	XX
Sep 17, 00:00	25.3N 124.4E	60 kt	982 mb	XX
Sep 17, 06:00	26.3N 125.4E	60 kt	984 mb	XX
Sep 17, 12:00	27.0N 126.7E	50 kt	990 mb	XX
Sep 17, 18:00	27.9N 127.9E	40 kt	996 mb	XX
Sep 18, 00:00	29.0N 128.9E	35 kt	1002 mb	XX
Sep 18, 06:00	30.7N 131.0E		1002 mb	XX
Sep 18, 12:00	31.8N 133.0E		1004 mb	XX
Sep 18, 18:00	33.5N 135.0E		1005 mb	XX
Sep 19, 00:00	34.2N 137.1E		1008 mb	XX
Sep 19, 06:00	34.6N 137.8E		1008 mb	XX
Sep 19, 12:00	35.0N 139.0E			XX

Other Western Pacific storms of 1966

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.