The 1966 season

Typhoon Viola (1966)

Typhoon Viola reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between August 18, 1966 and August 22, 1966, with a lowest pressure of 975 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Viola, 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
August 18, 1966 to August 22, 1966
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
975 mb (28.79 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
5.5
Identifier
WP131966

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
Aug 18, 00:0018.1N 148.8E1008 mbMixed
Aug 18, 06:0018.4N 148.4E1006 mbMixed
Aug 18, 12:0018.9N 148.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 18, 18:0019.3N 147.7E1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 00:0019.9N 147.5E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 06:0020.2N 147.3E55 kt986 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 12:0020.9N 147.3E55 kt986 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 18:0021.7N 147.6E60 kt986 mbTropical storm
Aug 20, 00:0022.6N 148.0E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 20, 06:0023.8N 148.3E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 20, 12:0025.4N 148.2E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 20, 18:0026.9N 147.6E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 21, 00:0028.3N 146.7E85 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 21, 06:0029.6N 145.7E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 21, 12:0031.1N 144.1E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 21, 18:0032.6N 141.7E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 22, 00:0033.9N 139.2E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 22, 06:0035.5N 137.5E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 22, 12:0036.9N 136.0E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 22, 18:0038.4N 134.5E20 ktTropical 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.