The 1980 season

Typhoon Ellen (1980)

Typhoon Ellen reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between May 11, 1980 and May 25, 1980, with a lowest pressure of 930 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Ellen, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1980 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 11, 1980 to May 25, 1980
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
930 mb (27.46 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 167 km (104 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
25.7
Identifier
WP041980

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 11, 12:006.9N 148.5E15 ktMixed
May 11, 18:006.9N 147.9E15 ktMixed
May 12, 00:007.0N 147.4E20 ktMixed
May 12, 06:007.0N 146.7E25 ktMixed
May 12, 12:007.0N 146.1E30 ktTropical storm
May 12, 18:007.1N 145.4E35 ktTropical storm
May 13, 00:007.2N 144.8E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
May 13, 06:007.3N 144.2E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
May 13, 12:007.5N 143.8E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 13, 18:007.8N 143.5E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 14, 00:008.1N 143.2E50 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 14, 06:008.4N 142.7E50 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 14, 12:008.6N 142.2E55 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 14, 18:009.0N 142.1E60 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 15, 00:009.5N 142.0E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
May 15, 06:0010.4N 142.0E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
May 15, 12:0011.2N 141.8E85 kt950 mbTropical storm
May 15, 18:0011.6N 141.7E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
May 16, 00:0012.2N 141.3E110 kt935 mbTropical storm
May 16, 06:0012.4N 141.3E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
May 16, 12:0012.6N 141.3E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
May 16, 18:0012.8N 141.3E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
May 17, 00:0013.3N 141.2E110 kt935 mbTropical storm
May 17, 06:0013.7N 141.2E110 kt935 mbTropical storm
May 17, 12:0014.5N 141.1E110 kt935 mbTropical storm
May 17, 18:0015.0N 140.8E105 kt935 mbTropical storm
May 18, 00:0015.6N 140.5E105 kt940 mbTropical storm
May 18, 06:0016.3N 140.1E105 kt940 mbTropical storm
May 18, 12:0016.9N 139.4E105 kt940 mbTropical storm
May 18, 18:0017.4N 138.9E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
May 19, 00:0018.0N 138.3E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
May 19, 06:0018.9N 137.7E100 kt950 mbTropical storm
May 19, 12:0019.9N 137.3E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
May 19, 18:0021.3N 136.7E95 kt965 mbTropical storm
May 20, 00:0022.6N 135.7E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
May 20, 06:0024.0N 135.6E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
May 20, 12:0025.6N 135.7E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
May 20, 18:0027.5N 135.9E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 21, 00:0029.7N 137.0E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 21, 06:0031.7N 138.8E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 21, 12:0034.3N 141.3E35 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 21, 18:0038.1N 145.1E30 kt980 mbMixed
May 22, 00:0038.2N 146.5E60 kt980 mbMixed
May 22, 06:0040.4N 148.7E50 kt985 mbMixed
May 22, 12:0042.1N 151.6E984 mbMixed
May 22, 18:0043.9N 154.5E982 mbExtratropical
May 23, 00:0045.8N 157.5E976 mbExtratropical
May 23, 06:0047.5N 160.5E970 mbExtratropical
May 23, 12:0048.8N 163.3E972 mbExtratropical
May 23, 18:0049.4N 165.9E976 mbExtratropical
May 24, 00:0049.5N 168.0E976 mbExtratropical
May 24, 06:0049.1N 171.2E980 mbExtratropical
May 24, 12:0049.1N 175.0E980 mbExtratropical
May 24, 18:0049.0N 179.0E980 mbExtratropical
May 25, 00:0050.0N 183.0EExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1980

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.