Super Typhoon Elsie (1969)
Super Typhoon Elsie reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between September 16, 1969 and October 4, 1969, with a lowest pressure of 895 mb, and made landfall.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Super Typhoon Elsie. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.























Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- Western Pacific
- Dates
- September 16, 1969 to October 4, 1969
- Peak strength
- Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 895 mb (26.43 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 35.9
- Identifier
- WP111969
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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 00:00 | 15.0N 165.0E | 1010 mb | Mixed | |
| Sep 16, 06:00 | 15.2N 165.0E | 1008 mb | Mixed | |
| Sep 16, 12:00 | 15.4N 165.0E | 1008 mb | Mixed | |
| Sep 16, 18:00 | 15.7N 165.0E | 1008 mb | Mixed | |
| Sep 17, 00:00 | 16.0N 165.0E | 1008 mb | Mixed | |
| Sep 17, 06:00 | 16.3N 164.9E | 1008 mb | Mixed | |
| Sep 17, 12:00 | 16.6N 164.7E | 1008 mb | Mixed | |
| Sep 17, 18:00 | 16.8N 164.5E | 1006 mb | Mixed | |
| Sep 18, 00:00 | 17.1N 164.3E | 1004 mb | Mixed | |
| Sep 18, 06:00 | 17.3N 164.4E | 1000 mb | Mixed | |
| Sep 18, 12:00 | 17.5N 164.4E | 1000 mb | Mixed | |
| Sep 18, 18:00 | 17.6N 164.4E | 1000 mb | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 19, 00:00 | 17.7N 164.4E | 1000 mb | Tropical storm | |
| Sep 19, 06:00 | 17.9N 164.4E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 19, 12:00 | 18.2N 164.2E | 30 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 19, 18:00 | 17.7N 163.6E | 30 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 20, 00:00 | 17.4N 162.7E | 35 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 20, 06:00 | 17.3N 161.5E | 50 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 20, 12:00 | 16.8N 160.4E | 55 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 20, 18:00 | 16.7N 159.0E | 60 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 21, 00:00 | 16.6N 157.6E | 65 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 21, 06:00 | 16.3N 156.3E | 80 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 21, 12:00 | 16.3N 154.9E | 90 kt | 955 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 21, 18:00 | 16.5N 153.3E | 95 kt | 950 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 22, 00:00 | 16.5N 151.7E | 100 kt | 940 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 22, 06:00 | 16.7N 150.0E | 105 kt | 930 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 22, 12:00 | 16.9N 148.4E | 115 kt | 920 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 22, 18:00 | 17.3N 146.7E | 125 kt | 910 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 23, 00:00 | 18.0N 145.1E | 130 kt | 900 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 23, 06:00 | 18.3N 143.2E | 135 kt | 895 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 23, 12:00 | 18.7N 141.5E | 140 kt | 895 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 23, 18:00 | 19.3N 139.9E | 140 kt | 895 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 24, 00:00 | 19.8N 138.2E | 145 kt | 895 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 24, 06:00 | 20.4N 136.7E | 150 kt | 895 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 24, 12:00 | 21.1N 135.1E | 145 kt | 905 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 24, 18:00 | 21.7N 133.6E | 135 kt | 910 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 25, 00:00 | 22.1N 132.2E | 130 kt | 920 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 25, 06:00 | 22.6N 130.6E | 125 kt | 920 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 25, 12:00 | 22.8N 129.0E | 120 kt | 925 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 25, 18:00 | 23.2N 127.6E | 115 kt | 925 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 26, 00:00 | 23.5N 126.2E | 105 kt | 925 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 26, 06:00 | 23.8N 124.8E | 100 kt | 925 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 26, 12:00 | 24.1N 123.2E | 95 kt | 925 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 26, 18:00 | 24.3N 121.5E | 90 kt | 945 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 27, 00:00 | 24.3N 120.3E | 75 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 27, 06:00 | 24.6N 119.1E | 65 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 27, 12:00 | 25.2N 118.1E | 40 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 27, 18:00 | 25.0N 118.0E | 40 kt | 994 mb | Mixed |
| Sep 28, 00:00 | 25.3N 116.0E | 35 kt | 1000 mb | Mixed |
| Sep 28, 06:00 | 25.8N 117.0E | 35 kt | 1004 mb | Mixed |
| Sep 28, 12:00 | 28.0N 116.0E | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Mixed |
| Sep 28, 18:00 | 30.5N 116.8E | 1008 mb | Mixed | |
| Sep 29, 00:00 | 31.4N 117.7E | 1010 mb | Extratropical | |
| Sep 29, 06:00 | 32.6N 118.8E | 1008 mb | Extratropical | |
| Sep 29, 12:00 | 33.4N 120.0E | 1008 mb | Extratropical | |
| Sep 29, 18:00 | 33.8N 122.0E | 1008 mb | Extratropical | |
| Sep 30, 00:00 | 33.5N 124.1E | 1008 mb | Extratropical | |
| Sep 30, 06:00 | 33.3N 126.8E | 1004 mb | Extratropical | |
| Sep 30, 12:00 | 33.6N 128.8E | 1004 mb | Extratropical | |
| Sep 30, 18:00 | 35.5N 132.4E | 1002 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 1, 00:00 | 37.8N 134.3E | 1002 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 1, 06:00 | 40.0N 136.3E | 998 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 1, 12:00 | 43.0N 138.8E | 994 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 1, 18:00 | 46.0N 141.0E | 988 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 2, 00:00 | 47.9N 142.0E | 980 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 2, 06:00 | 49.0N 145.0E | 984 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 2, 12:00 | 49.5N 148.0E | 984 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 2, 18:00 | 50.0N 152.0E | 986 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 3, 00:00 | 50.9N 156.0E | 986 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 3, 06:00 | 51.2N 158.5E | 984 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 3, 12:00 | 51.7N 161.6E | 982 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 3, 18:00 | 51.8N 164.5E | 982 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 4, 00:00 | 52.0N 169.0E | 982 mb | Extratropical | |
| Oct 4, 06:00 | 51.0N 174.1E | 984 mb | Extratropical |
Other Western Pacific storms of 1969
- Typhoon PhyllisWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Tropical Storm RitaWestern Pacific · 1969
- Typhoon SusanWestern Pacific · 1969
- Typhoon TessWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Super Typhoon ViolaWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Tropical Storm WinnieWestern Pacific · 1969
- Tropical Storm AliceWestern Pacific · 1969
- Typhoon BettyWestern Pacific · 1969
- Typhoon CoraWestern Pacific · 1969
- Typhoon DorisWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Tropical Storm FlossieWestern Pacific · 1969
- Typhoon GraceWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Typhoon HelenWestern Pacific · 1969
- Typhoon IdaWestern Pacific · 1969
- Typhoon JuneWestern Pacific · 1969
- Typhoon KathyWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Tropical Storm LornaWestern Pacific · 1969
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969
- Tropical Storm MarieWestern Pacific · 1969
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.