Super Typhoon Elaine (1968)

Basin

Western Pacific

Dates

September 22, 1968 to October 3, 1968

Peak strength

Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)

Lowest pressure

910 mb (26.87 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

22.5

Identifier

WP171968

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.

• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Typhoon JeanWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 3110 kt · 935 mb
• Typhoon KimWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 3100 kt · 950 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Typhoon LucyWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 3110 kt · 935 mb
• Super Typhoon MaryWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 4130 kt · 925 mb
• Tropical Storm NadineWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Storm60 kt · 970 mb
• Tropical Storm OliveWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Storm45 kt · 988 mb
• Tropical Depression NadineWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm PollyWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Storm55 kt · 965 mb
• Tropical Storm RoseWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Storm60 kt · 970 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Typhoon ShirleyWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 165 kt · 960 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm TrixWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Storm55 kt · 980 mb
• Tropical Storm VirginiaWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Storm55 kt · 990 mb
• Super Typhoon WendyWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 5140 kt · 920 mb
• Super Typhoon AgnesWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 5150 kt · 900 mb
• Typhoon BessWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 165 kt · 965 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Tropical Depression WendyWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Typhoon DellaWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 4120 kt · 930 mb
• Typhoon CarmenWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 3110 kt · 935 mb
• Super Typhoon FayeWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 5145 kt · 915 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Depression
• Typhoon GloriaWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 290 kt · 955 mb
• Tropical Storm HesterWestern Pacific · 1968Tropical Storm55 kt · 995 mb
• Typhoon IrmaWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 180 kt · 955 mb
• Typhoon JudyWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 4120 kt · 930 mb
• Typhoon KitWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 170 kt · 960 mb
• Typhoon LolaWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 3105 kt · 940 mb
• Typhoon MamieWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 165 kt · 975 mb
• Typhoon NinaWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 170 kt · 960 mb
• Typhoon OraWestern Pacific · 1968Cat 4120 kt · 930 mb

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.

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.