The 1969 season

Typhoon Kathy (1969)

Typhoon Kathy reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between November 2, 1969 and November 13, 1969, with a lowest pressure of 925 mb.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Typhoon Kathy. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
November 2, 1969 to November 13, 1969
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
925 mb (27.32 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 400 km (249 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
16.1
Identifier
WP171969

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
Nov 2, 00:008.0N 156.0EDisturbance
Nov 2, 06:007.7N 154.8EDisturbance
Nov 2, 12:007.3N 153.3ETropical storm
Nov 2, 18:007.6N 151.6E1006 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 00:008.3N 150.1E1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 06:008.8N 148.5E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 12:009.1N 147.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 18:009.6N 145.8E45 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 00:009.9N 144.3E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 06:0010.3N 142.7E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 12:0010.7N 141.4E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 18:0011.2N 140.3E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 00:0011.7N 139.3E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 06:0012.4N 138.3E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 12:0012.8N 137.3E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 18:0013.2N 136.3E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 00:0013.5N 135.3E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 06:0013.7N 134.2E85 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 12:0014.0N 133.0E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 18:0014.4N 131.9E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 00:0014.9N 130.9E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 06:0015.7N 130.3E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 12:0016.8N 130.0E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 18:0018.0N 129.8E105 kt925 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 00:0019.4N 129.7E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 06:0021.0N 130.0E100 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 12:0023.0N 131.2E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 18:0025.7N 133.4E80 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 00:0028.4N 135.7E80 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 06:0029.5N 137.2E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 12:0030.2N 138.5E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 18:0032.0N 139.0E30 kt996 mbMixed
Nov 10, 00:0034.6N 152.3E998 mbExtratropical
Nov 10, 06:0034.4N 155.7E1002 mbExtratropical
Nov 10, 12:0034.1N 158.5E1002 mbExtratropical
Nov 10, 18:0034.1N 161.8E1004 mbExtratropical
Nov 11, 00:0033.9N 164.5E1006 mbExtratropical
Nov 11, 06:0034.1N 166.5E1006 mbExtratropical
Nov 11, 12:0034.5N 168.5E1006 mbExtratropical
Nov 11, 18:0035.1N 170.2E1006 mbExtratropical
Nov 12, 00:0035.4N 172.1E1008 mbExtratropical
Nov 12, 06:0035.8N 174.6E1006 mbExtratropical
Nov 12, 12:0035.9N 177.0E1008 mbExtratropical
Nov 12, 18:0035.6N 179.5E1006 mbExtratropical
Nov 13, 00:0034.8N 181.5EExtratropical

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.