The 1971 season

Typhoon Virginia (1971)

Typhoon Virginia reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between August 30, 1971 and September 10, 1971, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Virginia, 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
August 30, 1971 to September 10, 1971
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 37 km (23 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
11.5
Identifier
WP241971

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
Aug 30, 00:009.2N 135.0ETropical storm
Aug 30, 06:0011.2N 134.1ETropical storm
Aug 30, 12:0012.9N 133.5ETropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0014.0N 133.6ETropical storm
Aug 31, 00:0014.8N 134.1ETropical storm
Aug 31, 06:0015.5N 134.5ETropical storm
Aug 31, 12:0016.0N 135.0ETropical storm
Aug 31, 18:0015.9N 135.4ETropical storm
Sep 1, 00:0016.3N 136.4E1010 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 06:0017.5N 137.5E1008 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 12:0018.1N 138.0E1008 mbMixed
Sep 1, 18:0018.3N 138.4E1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 00:0018.6N 138.5E45 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 06:0019.1N 138.5E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 12:0019.7N 138.4E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 18:0020.2N 138.3E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 00:0020.4N 138.2E50 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 06:0020.6N 138.2E60 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 12:0020.9N 137.9E60 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 18:0021.3N 137.7E60 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 00:0021.8N 137.3E60 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 06:0022.3N 137.1E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 12:0022.8N 136.9E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0023.4N 136.7E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0024.1N 136.5E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0024.9N 136.4E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0025.8N 136.3E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0026.8N 136.2E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0027.7N 136.3E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 06:0028.3N 136.6E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0028.9N 136.9E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 18:0029.9N 137.2E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 00:0031.1N 137.7E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 06:0032.4N 138.4E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 12:0033.8N 139.4E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 18:0035.6N 141.3E975 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 00:0037.4N 143.6E975 mbMixed
Sep 8, 06:0039.1N 146.4E975 mbMixed
Sep 8, 12:0040.8N 149.7E980 mbMixed
Sep 8, 18:0043.0N 153.8E980 mbMixed
Sep 9, 00:0044.9N 157.7E992 mbExtratropical
Sep 9, 06:0047.0N 160.2E996 mbExtratropical
Sep 9, 12:0048.4N 162.8E1002 mbExtratropical
Sep 9, 18:0048.6N 168.2E1002 mbExtratropical
Sep 10, 00:0048.4N 173.5E1004 mbExtratropical
Sep 10, 06:0048.0N 179.5E1004 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.