Tropical Storm Carla (1971)

Tropical Storm Carla peaked at 50 kt in the Western Pacific between May 17, 1971 and May 24, 1971, with a lowest pressure of 995 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Carla, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1971 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: May 17, 1971 to May 24, 1971
Peak strength: Tropical Storm, 50 kt (58 mph)
Lowest pressure: 995 mb (29.38 inHg)
Landfall: No; closest approach 76 km (47 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy: 2.3
Identifier: WP071971

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)	Position	Wind	Pressure	Status
May 17, 00:00	10.0N 128.9E		1008 mb	Tropical storm
May 17, 06:00	10.0N 129.3E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
May 17, 12:00	10.0N 129.6E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
May 17, 18:00	10.2N 129.8E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
May 18, 00:00	10.5N 130.0E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
May 18, 06:00	11.5N 129.6E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
May 18, 12:00	12.1N 129.1E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
May 18, 18:00	12.8N 128.5E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
May 19, 00:00	13.7N 128.4E		1004 mb	Mixed
May 19, 06:00	14.0N 127.9E	45 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
May 19, 12:00	14.8N 127.7E	45 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
May 19, 18:00	15.7N 127.4E	50 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
May 20, 00:00	16.7N 127.0E	50 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
May 20, 06:00	17.5N 126.7E	45 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
May 20, 12:00	18.3N 126.4E	45 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
May 20, 18:00	19.0N 126.2E	45 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
May 21, 00:00	19.8N 126.2E	45 kt	995 mb	Tropical storm
May 21, 06:00	20.6N 126.2E	45 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
May 21, 12:00	21.5N 126.1E	40 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
May 21, 18:00	22.5N 126.2E	35 kt	1004 mb	Tropical storm
May 22, 00:00	23.8N 126.7E	35 kt	1004 mb	Tropical storm
May 22, 06:00	25.2N 127.8E	30 kt	1005 mb	Tropical storm
May 22, 12:00	26.7N 129.1E	25 kt	1006 mb	Tropical storm
May 22, 18:00	28.6N 131.2E	20 kt	1006 mb	Tropical storm
May 23, 00:00	30.0N 132.5E		1006 mb	Tropical storm
May 23, 06:00	31.2N 133.6E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
May 23, 12:00	31.8N 134.5E		1004 mb	Tropical storm
May 23, 18:00	32.7N 135.7E		1006 mb	Tropical storm
May 24, 00:00	33.3N 137.8E		1008 mb	Mixed
May 24, 06:00	34.2N 139.8E		1008 mb	Mixed
May 24, 12:00	34.8N 141.5E			Tropical storm

Other Western Pacific storms of 1971

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.