Tropical Storm Rita (1969)

Basin

Western Pacific

Dates

March 6, 1969 to March 11, 1969

Peak strength

Tropical Storm, 40 kt (46 mph)

Lowest pressure

995 mb (29.38 inHg)

Landfall

No; closest approach 1111 km (690 mi)

Accumulated cyclone energy

0.9

Identifier

WP021969

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.

• Typhoon PhyllisWestern Pacific · 1969Cat 285 kt · 965 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Typhoon SusanWestern Pacific · 1969Cat 3105 kt · 940 mb
• Typhoon TessWestern Pacific · 1969Cat 170 kt · 970 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Super Typhoon ViolaWestern Pacific · 1969Cat 4130 kt · 900 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm WinnieWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Storm50 kt · 988 mb
• Tropical Storm AliceWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Storm45 kt · 985 mb
• Typhoon BettyWestern Pacific · 1969Cat 170 kt · 960 mb
• Typhoon CoraWestern Pacific · 1969Cat 285 kt · 935 mb
• Typhoon DorisWestern Pacific · 1969Cat 165 kt · 975 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Super Typhoon ElsieWestern Pacific · 1969Cat 5150 kt · 895 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm FlossieWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Storm60 kt · 960 mb
• Typhoon GraceWestern Pacific · 1969Cat 295 kt · 940 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Typhoon HelenWestern Pacific · 1969Cat 3105 kt · 930 mb
• Typhoon IdaWestern Pacific · 1969Cat 4115 kt · 915 mb
• Typhoon JuneWestern Pacific · 1969Cat 3105 kt · 940 mb
• Typhoon KathyWestern Pacific · 1969Cat 3110 kt · 925 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm LornaWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Storm50 kt · 985 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm MarieWestern Pacific · 1969Tropical Storm50 kt · 995 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.