The 1971 season

Super Typhoon Irma (1971)

Super Typhoon Irma reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between November 7, 1971 and November 17, 1971, with a lowest pressure of 885 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Irma, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
November 7, 1971 to November 17, 1971
Peak strength
Category 5, 155 kt (178 mph)
Lowest pressure
885 mb (26.13 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 360 km (224 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
27.9
Identifier
WP341971

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
Nov 7, 00:006.1N 140.9ETropical storm
Nov 7, 06:006.4N 141.4ETropical storm
Nov 7, 12:006.7N 142.2E1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 18:006.8N 142.6E1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 00:006.9N 142.6E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 06:007.3N 143.0E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 12:007.4N 142.6E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 18:007.8N 142.1E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 00:008.2N 141.6E50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 06:007.9N 141.2E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 12:008.6N 141.4E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 18:009.4N 140.9E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 00:0010.1N 140.3E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 06:0011.2N 139.4E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 12:0012.3N 138.3E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 18:0013.1N 137.0E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 00:0013.8N 135.6E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 06:0014.4N 134.3E95 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 12:0015.1N 132.9E130 kt910 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 18:0016.0N 131.6E155 kt885 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 00:0016.9N 130.3E155 kt890 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 06:0017.9N 129.2E150 kt895 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 12:0018.8N 128.4E145 kt905 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 18:0019.4N 127.9E135 kt915 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 00:0020.1N 127.5E125 kt925 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 06:0020.8N 127.1E120 kt930 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 12:0021.6N 126.9E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 18:0022.3N 126.8E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 00:0023.2N 127.0E100 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 06:0024.2N 127.5E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 12:0025.4N 128.3E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 18:0026.4N 129.8E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 00:0027.6N 131.8E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 06:0029.1N 134.4E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 12:0030.7N 138.0E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 18:0031.5N 141.2E975 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 00:0031.8N 145.6E980 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 06:0032.0N 151.7E988 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 12:0032.1N 157.2E994 mbExtratropical
Nov 16, 18:0031.7N 162.4E1000 mbExtratropical
Nov 17, 00:0031.6N 167.9E1000 mbExtratropical
Nov 17, 06:0031.8N 174.9E1002 mbExtratropical
Nov 17, 12:0033.0N 181.0EExtratropical

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.