The 1991 season

Typhoon Orchid (1991)

Typhoon Orchid reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between October 1, 1991 and October 15, 1991, with a lowest pressure of 930 mb.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Typhoon Orchid. 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
October 1, 1991 to October 15, 1991
Peak strength
Category 4, 115 kt (132 mph)
Lowest pressure
930 mb (27.46 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 248 km (154 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
24.9
Fastest the center moved
41 kt (47 mph)
Identifier
WP231991

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 1, 00:0013.6N 149.2E15 ktNot reported
Oct 1, 06:0014.7N 149.0E15 ktNot reported
Oct 1, 12:0015.5N 148.7E15 ktNot reported
Oct 1, 18:0016.3N 147.8E15 ktNot reported
Oct 2, 00:0016.8N 147.0E20 ktNot reported
Oct 2, 06:0017.2N 146.2E25 ktNot reported
Oct 2, 12:0017.6N 145.4E25 ktNot reported
Oct 2, 18:0018.0N 144.3E25 ktNot reported
Oct 3, 00:0018.2N 143.4E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 06:0018.5N 142.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 12:0018.8N 141.3E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 18:0019.0N 140.2E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 00:0019.1N 139.0E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 06:0019.1N 137.3E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 12:0019.1N 137.3E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 18:0019.1N 136.7E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 00:0019.2N 136.2E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 06:0019.2N 135.7E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 12:0019.2N 135.1E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 18:0019.1N 134.3E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 00:0019.0N 133.6E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 06:0018.9N 133.0E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 12:0019.0N 132.4E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 18:0019.1N 131.9E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 00:0019.3N 131.4E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 06:0019.5N 131.0E115 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 12:0019.8N 130.7E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 18:0020.3N 130.6E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 00:0020.8N 130.4E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 06:0021.4N 130.5E105 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 12:0022.2N 130.7E105 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 18:0023.1N 131.1E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 00:0024.1N 131.8E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 06:0025.0N 132.5E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 12:0025.8N 133.2E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 18:0026.5N 134.1E85 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 00:0027.1N 134.8E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:0027.7N 135.5E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:0028.2N 136.0E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 18:0028.8N 136.4E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 00:0029.4N 136.6E70 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 06:0030.0N 136.8E70 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 12:0030.5N 137.1E65 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 18:0030.9N 137.6E65 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 00:0031.3N 138.2E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 06:0031.7N 138.9E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 12:0032.1N 139.8E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 18:0032.7N 141.0E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 00:0033.6N 142.7E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0035.5N 144.7E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0037.4N 146.9E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0039.7N 149.6E55 kt980 mbMixed
Oct 14, 00:0042.7N 151.7E45 kt980 mbMixed
Oct 14, 06:0046.0N 155.0E972 mbExtratropical
Oct 14, 12:0048.0N 159.0E972 mbExtratropical
Oct 14, 18:0051.0N 163.0E972 mbExtratropical
Oct 15, 00:0052.0N 167.0E972 mbExtratropical
Oct 15, 06:0053.0N 171.0E976 mbExtratropical
Oct 15, 12:0054.0N 176.0E976 mbExtratropical
Oct 15, 18:0055.0N 181.0EExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1991

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.