The 1966 season

Typhoon Irma (1966)

Typhoon Irma reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between May 10, 1966 and May 22, 1966, with a lowest pressure of 972 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Irma, 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
May 10, 1966 to May 22, 1966
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
972 mb (28.70 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
19.8
Identifier
WP021966

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
May 10, 00:005.6N 139.0E1008 mbMixed
May 10, 06:006.1N 138.6E1008 mbMixed
May 10, 12:006.8N 138.0E1008 mbMixed
May 10, 18:007.5N 137.6E1008 mbMixed
May 11, 00:008.0N 137.1E1008 mbMixed
May 11, 06:007.8N 137.1E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
May 11, 12:008.2N 136.2E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
May 11, 18:008.6N 135.2E45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 12, 00:009.0N 134.3E60 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 12, 06:009.3N 133.7E75 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 12, 12:009.5N 133.1E75 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 12, 18:009.7N 132.4E70 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 13, 00:009.8N 131.7E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
May 13, 06:009.7N 131.0E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 13, 12:009.6N 130.3E45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 13, 18:009.5N 129.9E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 14, 00:009.5N 129.4E60 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 14, 06:009.7N 128.8E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 14, 12:009.9N 128.2E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
May 14, 18:0010.2N 127.8E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 15, 00:0010.5N 127.3E90 kt978 mbTropical storm
May 15, 06:0010.9N 126.7E100 kt974 mbTropical storm
May 15, 12:0011.3N 125.8E100 kt974 mbTropical storm
May 15, 18:0011.5N 125.0E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
May 16, 00:0011.6N 124.4E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 16, 06:0011.7N 123.8E80 kt986 mbTropical storm
May 16, 12:0011.8N 123.2E90 kt984 mbTropical storm
May 16, 18:0011.9N 122.8E100 kt978 mbTropical storm
May 17, 00:0012.2N 122.3E120 kt972 mbTropical storm
May 17, 06:0012.6N 121.8E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
May 17, 12:0013.0N 121.2E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 17, 18:0013.3N 120.6E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
May 18, 00:0013.7N 120.3E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 18, 06:0014.1N 120.0E65 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 18, 12:0014.5N 119.8E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
May 18, 18:0015.0N 119.5E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 19, 00:0015.5N 119.4E85 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 19, 06:0016.0N 119.7E85 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 19, 12:0016.4N 120.2E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
May 19, 18:0016.9N 120.5E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 20, 00:0017.7N 120.5E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 20, 06:0018.9N 120.4E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 20, 12:0020.3N 121.1E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
May 20, 18:0021.1N 122.5E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
May 21, 00:0021.3N 123.8E60 kt995 mbTropical storm
May 21, 06:0021.6N 124.8E55 kt995 mbTropical storm
May 21, 12:0022.7N 126.6E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
May 21, 18:0023.8N 128.3E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 22, 00:0025.3N 130.3E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
May 22, 06:0029.0N 134.0E996 mbTropical storm

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.