The 1966 season

Typhoon Hester (1966)

Typhoon Hester reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between April 3, 1966 and April 15, 1966, with a lowest pressure of 988 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Hester, 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
April 3, 1966 to April 15, 1966
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
988 mb (29.18 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 316 km (196 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.8
Identifier
WP011966

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
Apr 3, 06:007.0N 166.0ETropical storm
Apr 3, 12:007.0N 165.9ETropical storm
Apr 3, 18:007.0N 165.8ETropical storm
Apr 4, 00:007.3N 165.8E20 ktTropical storm
Apr 4, 06:007.7N 165.1E15 ktTropical storm
Apr 4, 12:008.0N 164.3E15 ktTropical storm
Apr 4, 18:007.9N 162.7E20 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 00:008.2N 160.8E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 06:009.0N 159.4E35 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 12:0010.0N 157.7E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 18:0010.7N 156.2E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 00:0010.5N 154.4E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 06:0010.8N 152.9E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 6, 12:0011.2N 151.5E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 6, 18:008.2N 148.7E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 00:008.6N 146.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 06:009.3N 144.8E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 12:009.3N 142.9E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 18:009.4N 140.9E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 00:009.9N 139.6E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 06:0010.6N 138.6E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 12:0011.2N 137.2E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 18:0011.0N 135.5E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 00:0011.6N 134.2E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 06:0012.6N 133.3E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 12:0013.1N 131.9E50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 18:0013.6N 130.7E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 00:0014.0N 130.0E65 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 06:0014.4N 129.5E65 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 12:0014.9N 128.7E70 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 18:0015.4N 127.8E80 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 00:0015.7N 127.2E85 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 06:0016.2N 126.6E75 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 12:0016.8N 126.2E65 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 18:0017.4N 125.7E65 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 00:0017.7N 125.5E70 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 06:0017.7N 125.5E70 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 12:0018.0N 125.4E85 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 18:0018.4N 125.3E80 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 00:0019.0N 125.3E80 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 06:0019.5N 125.4E80 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 12:0019.9N 125.5E65 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 18:0020.2N 125.5E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 00:0020.2N 125.5E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 06:0020.5N 125.5E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 12:0021.2N 125.8E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 18:0022.3N 126.5E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 00:0023.5N 129.0E1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 06:0024.5N 131.3E1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 12:0025.4N 133.8E1004 mbMixed
Apr 15, 18:0026.5N 136.5E1006 mbMixed

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.