The 1971 season

Tropical Storm Thelma (1971)

Tropical Storm Thelma peaked at 45 kt in the Western Pacific between March 15, 1971 and March 24, 1971, with a lowest pressure of 994 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Thelma, 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
March 15, 1971 to March 24, 1971
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 45 kt (52 mph)
Lowest pressure
994 mb (29.35 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 317 km (197 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
0.2
Identifier
WP021971

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
Mar 15, 00:005.7N 133.8EDisturbance
Mar 15, 06:006.4N 133.7ETropical storm
Mar 15, 12:007.1N 133.5ETropical storm
Mar 15, 18:007.9N 133.2ETropical storm
Mar 16, 00:009.1N 133.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Mar 16, 06:0010.0N 132.5E1002 mbTropical storm
Mar 16, 12:0010.5N 131.8E1002 mbTropical storm
Mar 16, 18:0010.7N 130.9E1002 mbTropical storm
Mar 17, 00:0010.9N 129.6E1004 mbTropical storm
Mar 17, 06:0010.8N 129.4E1002 mbTropical storm
Mar 17, 12:0010.5N 129.4E1002 mbTropical storm
Mar 17, 18:0010.3N 129.3E1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 18, 00:0010.0N 129.3E999 mbTropical storm
Mar 18, 06:0010.2N 129.5E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 18, 12:009.9N 128.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 18, 18:009.2N 129.7E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Mar 19, 00:009.2N 129.8E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Mar 19, 06:0011.6N 130.6E25 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 19, 12:0013.1N 131.6E25 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 19, 18:0014.5N 132.8E996 mbTropical storm
Mar 20, 00:0015.7N 133.5E996 mbTropical storm
Mar 20, 06:0016.6N 134.1E994 mbTropical storm
Mar 20, 12:0017.7N 134.7E994 mbTropical storm
Mar 20, 18:0018.5N 135.5E994 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 00:0019.2N 136.3E994 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 06:0020.0N 137.1E996 mbMixed
Mar 21, 12:0020.9N 137.8E996 mbMixed
Mar 21, 18:0021.9N 138.6E998 mbMixed
Mar 22, 00:0022.8N 139.5E998 mbExtratropical
Mar 22, 06:0023.8N 140.1E998 mbExtratropical
Mar 22, 12:0024.5N 141.1E998 mbExtratropical
Mar 22, 18:0025.2N 143.0E998 mbExtratropical
Mar 23, 00:0025.8N 145.1E1000 mbExtratropical
Mar 23, 06:0026.2N 147.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Mar 23, 12:0026.5N 148.8E1002 mbExtratropical
Mar 23, 18:0027.2N 150.7E1002 mbExtratropical
Mar 24, 00:0028.2N 153.1E1002 mbExtratropical
Mar 24, 06:0030.8N 156.6E1002 mbExtratropical
Mar 24, 12:0033.0N 160.2E1002 mbExtratropical

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.