Typhoon Helen (1969)

Typhoon Helen reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between October 5, 1969 and October 14, 1969, with a lowest pressure of 930 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Helen, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1969 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: October 5, 1969 to October 14, 1969
Peak strength: Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)
Lowest pressure: 930 mb (27.46 inHg)
Landfall: No; closest approach 830 km (516 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy: 10.4
Identifier: WP141969

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
Oct 5, 12:00	10.7N 157.9E		1008 mb	Mixed
Oct 5, 18:00	10.8N 157.2E		1008 mb	Mixed
Oct 6, 00:00	11.0N 156.3E		1008 mb	Mixed
Oct 6, 06:00	11.3N 155.7E		1008 mb	Mixed
Oct 6, 12:00	11.5N 155.1E		1008 mb	Mixed
Oct 6, 18:00	11.8N 154.5E		1008 mb	Mixed
Oct 7, 00:00	12.2N 154.0E		1008 mb	Mixed
Oct 7, 06:00	12.6N 153.5E		1006 mb	Mixed
Oct 7, 12:00	13.2N 153.1E		1006 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 7, 18:00	13.6N 152.6E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 8, 00:00	14.2N 152.1E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 8, 06:00	15.0N 150.9E	25 kt	1002 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 8, 12:00	15.6N 149.4E	30 kt	1002 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 8, 18:00	16.2N 148.1E	30 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 9, 00:00	17.0N 146.9E	35 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 9, 06:00	17.8N 145.8E	40 kt	990 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 9, 12:00	18.6N 144.7E	45 kt	980 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 9, 18:00	19.2N 143.8E	60 kt	970 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 10, 00:00	19.7N 143.1E	70 kt	960 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 10, 06:00	20.6N 142.5E	85 kt	955 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 10, 12:00	21.7N 142.2E	85 kt	950 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 10, 18:00	22.6N 141.8E	90 kt	945 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 11, 00:00	23.9N 141.7E	95 kt	935 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 11, 06:00	25.5N 142.1E	105 kt	930 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 11, 12:00	27.2N 143.3E	105 kt	935 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 11, 18:00	28.8N 145.5E	100 kt	940 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 12, 00:00	31.4N 148.3E	95 kt	950 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 12, 06:00	33.9N 151.9E	80 kt	955 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 12, 12:00	35.6N 156.3E	60 kt	965 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 12, 18:00	37.3N 160.5E	55 kt	970 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 13, 00:00	38.9N 165.4E	45 kt	980 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 13, 06:00	38.0N 167.5E	40 kt	985 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 13, 12:00	39.0N 170.8E	35 kt	990 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 13, 18:00	39.5N 174.5E	30 kt	995 mb	Mixed
Oct 14, 00:00	36.3N 179.4E		1000 mb	Extratropical
Oct 14, 06:00	35.8N 181.7E			Extratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 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.