The 1974 season

Typhoon Shirley (1974)

Typhoon Shirley reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between September 2, 1974 and September 11, 1974, with a lowest pressure of 970 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Shirley, 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
September 2, 1974 to September 11, 1974
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
970 mb (28.64 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.7
Identifier
WP211974

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
Sep 2, 00:0023.5N 122.8E1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 06:0023.5N 124.0E1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 12:0023.7N 125.3E1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 18:0023.8N 126.6E1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 00:0023.8N 129.2E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 06:0023.9N 129.7E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 12:0024.1N 130.1E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 18:0024.2N 130.5E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 00:0024.4N 130.8E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 06:0024.8N 130.9E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 12:0025.2N 131.1E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0025.5N 131.1E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0025.8N 131.1E50 kt988 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0026.2N 130.8E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0026.4N 130.7E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0026.7N 130.2E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0026.9N 129.8E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 06:0027.1N 129.2E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0027.4N 128.5E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 18:0027.7N 128.0E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 00:0028.1N 127.8E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 06:0028.5N 127.6E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 12:0028.9N 127.5E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 18:0029.2N 127.6E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 00:0029.8N 128.1E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 06:0030.6N 129.1E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 12:0031.5N 130.3E60 kt984 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 18:0032.6N 132.2E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 00:0033.7N 134.5E25 kt1002 mbMixed
Sep 9, 06:0035.2N 137.2E20 kt1003 mbMixed
Sep 9, 12:0038.0N 140.0E15 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 9, 18:0040.0N 142.5E20 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 10, 00:0042.0N 146.0E20 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 10, 06:0043.0N 147.5E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 10, 12:0044.0N 149.0E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 10, 18:0044.0N 151.0E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 11, 00:0044.0N 153.0E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 11, 06:0044.8N 155.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Sep 11, 12:0045.0N 159.0E1000 mbExtratropical

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.