The 1974 season

Typhoon Elaine (1974)

Typhoon Elaine reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between October 22, 1974 and November 1, 1974, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Elaine, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
October 22, 1974 to November 1, 1974
Peak strength
Category 2, 95 kt (109 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.3
Identifier
WP291974

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 22, 12:0013.5N 147.5E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 18:0014.0N 146.0E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 00:0013.1N 144.3E20 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 06:0014.5N 144.1E25 kt1005 mbMixed
Oct 23, 12:0016.0N 143.8E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 18:0016.8N 142.7E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 00:0017.3N 141.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 06:0017.7N 140.4E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 12:0018.1N 139.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 18:0018.1N 138.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 00:0017.9N 137.4E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 06:0017.7N 136.4E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 12:0017.5N 135.4E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 18:0017.3N 134.4E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 00:0017.1N 133.0E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 06:0016.8N 131.6E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 12:0016.9N 130.0E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 18:0016.9N 128.7E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 00:0016.9N 127.4E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 06:0017.0N 126.0E90 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 12:0017.2N 124.5E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 18:0017.4N 123.0E95 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 00:0017.5N 121.7E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 06:0017.7N 120.4E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 12:0017.9N 119.1E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 18:0018.2N 118.2E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 00:0018.5N 117.3E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 06:0019.1N 116.5E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 12:0019.9N 115.5E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 18:0020.5N 114.6E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 00:0020.9N 114.1E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 06:0021.0N 113.8E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 12:0021.0N 113.5E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 18:0021.0N 113.3E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 00:0020.7N 113.0E30 kt1000 mbXX
Oct 31, 06:0020.1N 112.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 12:0019.5N 111.8E25 ktTropical storm
Oct 31, 18:0018.9N 111.1E25 ktTropical storm
Nov 1, 00:0018.1N 110.2E25 ktTropical storm

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.