The 1969 season

Typhoon Susan (1969)

Typhoon Susan reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between April 15, 1969 and April 26, 1969, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Typhoon Susan. 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
April 15, 1969 to April 26, 1969
Peak strength
Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
12.4
Identifier
WP031969

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
Apr 15, 06:006.0N 148.0E1006 mbMixed
Apr 15, 12:006.2N 147.2E1008 mbMixed
Apr 15, 18:006.3N 146.4E1008 mbMixed
Apr 16, 00:006.4N 145.6E1008 mbMixed
Apr 16, 06:006.5N 144.9E1008 mbMixed
Apr 16, 12:006.5N 144.1E1008 mbMixed
Apr 16, 18:006.6N 143.5E1008 mbMixed
Apr 17, 00:006.6N 142.9E1008 mbMixed
Apr 17, 06:006.6N 142.3E1006 mbMixed
Apr 17, 12:006.6N 141.7E1006 mbMixed
Apr 17, 18:006.6N 141.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 00:006.6N 140.5E1002 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 06:006.5N 140.0E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 12:006.6N 139.4E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 18:006.7N 138.5E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 00:006.9N 138.0E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 06:007.1N 137.3E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 12:007.2N 136.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 18:007.3N 135.7E30 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 00:007.4N 134.7E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 06:007.5N 133.8E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 12:007.5N 133.0E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 18:007.6N 132.2E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 00:007.7N 131.4E75 kt955 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 06:007.8N 130.6E85 kt950 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 12:008.0N 129.9E85 kt945 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 18:008.2N 129.4E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 00:008.4N 128.9E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 06:008.7N 128.5E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 12:009.0N 128.0E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 18:009.3N 127.5E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 00:009.5N 126.9E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 06:009.6N 126.5E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 12:009.8N 126.2E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 18:009.8N 126.1E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Apr 24, 00:009.9N 126.0E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 24, 06:009.9N 126.0E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 24, 12:009.9N 126.0E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 24, 18:009.9N 126.0E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 25, 00:009.9N 126.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 25, 06:009.9N 126.0E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Apr 25, 12:009.8N 124.8E1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 25, 18:009.6N 124.4E1006 mbTropical storm
Apr 26, 00:009.4N 123.8E1006 mbMixed
Apr 26, 06:009.0N 123.1E1006 mbMixed
Apr 26, 12:008.5N 122.5E1008 mbMixed
Apr 26, 18:008.2N 121.9E1008 mbMixed

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.