The 1976 season

Typhoon Joan (1976)

Typhoon Joan reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between September 18, 1976 and September 25, 1976, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Typhoon Joan. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
September 18, 1976 to September 25, 1976
Peak strength
Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1039 km (646 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.8
Identifier
WP211976

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 18, 00:0014.2N 152.6E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0014.7N 152.3E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0015.2N 152.0E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 18, 18:0015.7N 151.7E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 19, 00:0016.2N 151.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0017.2N 151.8E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0018.5N 152.3E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 18:0019.4N 152.3E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 00:0020.4N 152.2E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 06:0021.6N 151.9E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 12:0022.7N 151.7E50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 18:0023.3N 151.5E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 00:0023.8N 151.4E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 06:0024.3N 151.5E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 12:0024.8N 151.7E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 18:0025.3N 152.0E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 00:0025.9N 152.3E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 06:0026.4N 152.8E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 12:0027.1N 153.4E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 18:0028.0N 154.1E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 00:0029.0N 154.8E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 06:0029.9N 155.5E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 12:0030.9N 156.2E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 18:0032.4N 157.4E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 00:0034.5N 159.5E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 06:0036.6N 162.3E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 12:0039.0N 166.0E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 18:0041.8N 170.2E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 00:0045.0N 175.0E50 kt984 mbMixed
Sep 25, 06:0046.8N 180.0EExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1976

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.