The 1969 season

Super Typhoon Viola (1969)

Super Typhoon Viola reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between July 20, 1969 and July 31, 1969, with a lowest pressure of 900 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Viola, 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
July 20, 1969 to July 31, 1969
Peak strength
Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)
Lowest pressure
900 mb (26.58 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
24.8
Identifier
WP051969

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
Jul 20, 00:004.0N 151.0EDisturbance
Jul 20, 06:004.5N 150.2EDisturbance
Jul 20, 12:005.6N 149.1E1007 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 18:006.4N 148.3E1006 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 00:006.9N 147.4E1006 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 06:007.2N 146.5E1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 12:007.5N 145.6E1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 18:007.9N 144.5E1002 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 00:008.1N 143.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 06:008.6N 142.6E35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 12:009.3N 141.5E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 18:009.8N 140.7E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 00:0010.6N 140.0E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 06:0011.6N 139.2E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 12:0012.6N 138.2E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 18:0013.7N 137.2E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 00:0014.8N 135.9E70 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 06:0015.4N 134.4E85 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 12:0015.7N 132.9E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 18:0016.2N 131.5E100 kt930 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 00:0016.4N 130.3E110 kt925 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 06:0016.7N 128.9E115 kt920 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 12:0016.9N 127.8E120 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 18:0017.1N 126.9E125 kt905 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 00:0017.6N 126.3E130 kt900 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 06:0018.3N 125.5E130 kt900 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 12:0019.1N 124.4E130 kt900 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 18:0019.5N 123.2E130 kt900 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 00:0019.8N 121.8E125 kt900 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 06:0020.4N 120.6E125 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 12:0021.1N 119.6E120 kt925 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 18:0021.7N 118.4E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 00:0022.4N 117.4E100 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 06:0023.3N 116.6E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 12:0023.0N 114.2E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 18:0023.2N 112.7E45 kt984 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 00:0023.5N 111.0E35 kt986 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 06:0023.3N 111.2E35 kt986 mbMixed
Jul 29, 12:0023.2N 111.5E30 kt988 mbMixed
Jul 29, 18:0024.6N 109.0E990 mbMixed
Jul 30, 00:0024.7N 107.6E990 mbMixed
Jul 30, 06:0024.6N 107.0E992 mbMixed
Jul 30, 12:0024.4N 106.3E994 mbMixed
Jul 30, 18:0024.0N 105.5E994 mbMixed
Jul 31, 00:0023.3N 104.3E998 mbMixed
Jul 31, 06:0023.3N 102.8EDisturbance

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.