The 1994 season

Super Typhoon Melissa (1994)

Super Typhoon Melissa reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between September 8, 1994 and September 21, 1994, with a lowest pressure of 910 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Melissa, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1994 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 8, 1994 to September 21, 1994
Peak strength
Category 4, 135 kt (155 mph)
Lowest pressure
910 mb (26.87 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 260 km (162 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
22.1
Identifier
WP261994

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 8, 00:0010.0N 179.9E10 ktNot reported
Sep 8, 06:009.9N 178.5E10 ktNot reported
Sep 8, 12:009.8N 177.0E10 ktNot reported
Sep 8, 18:009.7N 175.4E15 ktNot reported
Sep 9, 00:009.6N 173.8E15 ktNot reported
Sep 9, 06:009.5N 172.2E15 ktNot reported
Sep 9, 12:009.4N 170.6E15 ktNot reported
Sep 9, 18:009.3N 169.0E20 ktNot reported
Sep 10, 00:009.3N 167.4E20 ktNot reported
Sep 10, 06:009.4N 165.8E20 ktNot reported
Sep 10, 12:009.5N 164.3E25 ktNot reported
Sep 10, 18:009.6N 162.8E25 ktNot reported
Sep 11, 00:009.7N 161.4E30 ktTropical storm
Sep 11, 06:009.8N 160.2E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 12:0010.0N 159.2E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 18:0010.3N 158.2E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 00:0010.8N 157.5E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 06:0011.4N 157.1E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 12:0011.9N 157.0E50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 18:0012.3N 157.2E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 00:0012.7N 157.5E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 06:0013.2N 157.9E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0013.7N 158.2E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0014.3N 158.5E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0014.9N 158.8E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0015.5N 159.1E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0016.1N 159.4E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 18:0016.9N 159.7E110 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0017.9N 159.8E120 kt935 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 06:0019.0N 159.7E130 kt930 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 12:0020.2N 159.5E135 kt920 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 18:0021.5N 159.1E130 kt915 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 00:0022.8N 158.5E125 kt910 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 06:0024.1N 157.7E115 kt910 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0025.5N 156.7E110 kt920 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0027.0N 155.7E100 kt925 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0028.5N 154.6E90 kt935 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0030.0N 153.5E80 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0031.6N 152.4E70 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0033.2N 151.2E65 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0034.8N 150.1E60 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0036.3N 149.1E55 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0037.7N 148.6E55 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0039.1N 148.5E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0040.4N 148.6E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0041.7N 148.7E45 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0043.1N 149.1E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 18:0044.4N 149.7E40 kt982 mbExtratropical
Sep 20, 00:0043.0N 150.0E984 mbExtratropical
Sep 20, 06:0043.2N 150.5E988 mbExtratropical
Sep 20, 12:0043.2N 151.2E992 mbExtratropical
Sep 20, 18:0043.0N 152.0E994 mbExtratropical
Sep 21, 00:0042.8N 152.5E996 mbExtratropical
Sep 21, 06:0042.5N 153.2E996 mbExtratropical
Sep 21, 12:0041.5N 154.5E996 mbExtratropical
Sep 21, 18:0040.5N 156.0E998 mbExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1994

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.