The 1974 season

Typhoon Carla (1974)

Typhoon Carla reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between May 1, 1974 and May 8, 1974, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Carla, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1974 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 1, 1974 to May 8, 1974
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1203 km (748 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.7
Identifier
WP041974

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
May 1, 00:008.9N 154.2E25 kt1008 mbTropical storm
May 1, 06:009.9N 153.1E25 kt1008 mbTropical storm
May 1, 12:0010.8N 152.0E25 kt1004 mbMixed
May 1, 18:0011.7N 150.8E25 kt1004 mbMixed
May 2, 00:0012.4N 149.8E30 kt1004 mbMixed
May 2, 06:0012.8N 148.8E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 2, 12:0013.1N 148.0E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
May 2, 18:0013.6N 147.4E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 3, 00:0014.2N 146.6E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 3, 06:0014.8N 145.8E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 3, 12:0015.3N 145.2E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 3, 18:0015.7N 144.6E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
May 4, 00:0016.2N 144.2E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 4, 06:0016.7N 143.9E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
May 4, 12:0017.3N 143.7E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
May 4, 18:0017.8N 143.7E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
May 5, 00:0018.7N 143.7E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
May 5, 06:0019.7N 143.8E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
May 5, 12:0020.8N 144.4E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
May 5, 18:0022.3N 145.3E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
May 6, 00:0024.0N 145.7E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 6, 06:0025.4N 146.6E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
May 6, 12:0026.6N 148.3E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
May 6, 18:0028.0N 150.2E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
May 7, 00:0029.3N 152.3E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
May 7, 06:0030.3N 154.9E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 7, 12:0031.8N 159.0E35 kt1004 mbMixed
May 7, 18:0032.8N 162.5E35 kt1004 mbMixed
May 8, 00:0034.0N 168.0E30 kt1008 mbMixed
May 8, 06:0035.5N 173.0E30 kt1008 mbMixed
May 8, 12:0037.0N 179.0E30 kt1012 mbMixed

Other Western Pacific storms of 1974

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.