The 1970 season

Super Typhoon Joan (1970)

Super Typhoon Joan reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 9, 1970 and October 18, 1970, with a lowest pressure of 905 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Joan, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1970 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
October 9, 1970 to October 18, 1970
Peak strength
Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)
Lowest pressure
905 mb (26.72 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
25.4
Fastest the center moved
19 kt (22 mph)
Identifier
WP171970

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
Oct 9, 00:007.6N 147.0E1004 mbMixed
Oct 9, 06:007.9N 145.4E1002 mbMixed
Oct 9, 12:008.3N 143.6E1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 18:008.9N 142.0E1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 00:009.5N 140.7E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:0010.2N 139.0E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:0010.7N 137.3E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 18:0010.8N 135.4E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 00:0011.0N 133.5E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 06:0011.4N 131.7E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 12:0011.6N 130.3E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 18:0011.5N 129.1E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 00:0011.4N 128.0E105 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 06:0011.5N 127.2E120 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 12:0012.2N 126.7E130 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 18:0012.8N 125.8E140 kt905 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 00:0013.3N 124.7E150 kt910 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0013.6N 123.5E115 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0013.8N 122.4E90 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0014.1N 121.5E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:0014.5N 120.4E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:0015.0N 119.1E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0014.5N 117.8E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0014.9N 117.2E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0014.9N 115.9E95 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0014.9N 115.4E95 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0015.3N 114.7E95 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:0015.7N 113.7E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0016.4N 113.0E100 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 06:0017.4N 112.3E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0018.4N 111.9E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0019.1N 111.4E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0019.7N 111.0E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0020.0N 110.5E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 12:0020.4N 110.2E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 18:0021.7N 110.1E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 00:0021.1N 110.0E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:0021.8N 110.5E1002 mbMixed
Oct 18, 12:0021.7N 111.2E1008 mbMixed
Oct 18, 18:0021.2N 111.6EDisturbance

Other Western Pacific storms of 1970

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.