The 1971 season

Typhoon Hester (1971)

Typhoon Hester reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between October 18, 1971 and October 24, 1971, with a lowest pressure of 970 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Hester, 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
October 18, 1971 to October 24, 1971
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
970 mb (28.64 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.6
Fastest the center moved
19 kt (22 mph)
Identifier
WP331971

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 18, 00:0010.5N 134.0E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:0010.3N 133.2E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 12:009.8N 132.5E1008 mbMixed
Oct 18, 18:009.7N 131.9E1008 mbMixed
Oct 19, 00:009.6N 131.3E1008 mbMixed
Oct 19, 06:009.5N 130.4E1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 12:009.6N 129.8E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 18:009.5N 128.5E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 00:009.5N 127.0E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 06:009.5N 125.4E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 12:009.6N 123.8E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 18:009.6N 122.4E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 00:009.7N 121.2E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 06:0010.2N 119.9E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 12:0011.0N 118.2E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 18:0011.7N 116.5E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 00:0012.5N 114.9E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 06:0013.2N 113.2E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 12:0013.8N 111.6E85 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 18:0014.3N 110.4E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 00:0015.0N 109.2E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 06:0015.6N 108.2E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 12:0016.1N 107.2E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 18:0016.4N 106.2E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 00:0017.6N 104.4E1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 06:0018.8N 103.0E1004 mbTropical 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.