The 1968 season

Typhoon Carmen (1968)

Typhoon Carmen reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between September 15, 1968 and September 25, 1968, with a lowest pressure of 935 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Carmen, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1968 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 15, 1968 to September 25, 1968
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
935 mb (27.61 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 378 km (235 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
18.2
Identifier
WP161968

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 15, 00:0016.4N 152.4E1008 mbMixed
Sep 15, 06:0016.6N 152.0E1006 mbMixed
Sep 15, 12:0016.8N 151.6E1004 mbMixed
Sep 15, 18:0017.0N 151.3E1002 mbMixed
Sep 16, 00:0017.2N 150.9E1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 06:0016.2N 150.5E30 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0017.0N 150.0E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0016.9N 149.6E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0016.9N 149.2E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0017.0N 148.6E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0017.2N 148.2E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0017.6N 147.6E70 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0018.2N 147.2E75 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0018.9N 146.9E80 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0019.8N 146.7E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0020.7N 146.5E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0021.7N 146.1E105 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0022.5N 145.7E110 kt935 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0023.2N 145.3E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 18:0023.9N 144.9E105 kt935 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 00:0024.7N 144.4E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 06:0025.6N 143.9E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 12:0026.5N 143.4E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 18:0027.4N 142.9E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 00:0028.4N 142.7E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 06:0029.4N 142.9E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 12:0030.4N 143.2E75 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 18:0031.2N 143.5E70 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 00:0032.0N 143.8E65 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 06:0032.7N 144.1E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 12:0033.5N 144.3E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 18:0034.3N 144.7E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 00:0035.2N 145.2E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 06:0036.3N 145.9E45 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 12:0038.0N 147.5E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 18:0038.0N 150.0E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 00:0039.0N 152.5E30 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 06:0040.2N 154.6E996 mbExtratropical
Sep 24, 12:0040.6N 156.5E998 mbExtratropical
Sep 24, 18:0041.0N 158.1E998 mbExtratropical
Sep 25, 00:0041.0N 160.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 25, 06:0041.2N 164.5E1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 25, 12:0042.1N 171.0E1004 mbExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1968

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.