The 1997 season

Typhoon Amber (1997)

Typhoon Amber reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between August 19, 1997 and August 31, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 950 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Typhoon Amber. 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
August 19, 1997 to August 31, 1997
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
950 mb (28.05 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
24.4
Identifier
WP181997

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 19, 12:0014.0N 136.0E25 ktNot reported
Aug 19, 18:0014.0N 135.5E25 ktNot reported
Aug 20, 00:0014.0N 135.0E25 ktNot reported
Aug 20, 06:0014.0N 134.5E25 ktNot reported
Aug 20, 12:0014.1N 134.0E25 ktNot reported
Aug 20, 18:0014.2N 133.6E25 ktNot reported
Aug 21, 00:0014.3N 133.2E25 kt1002 mbXX
Aug 21, 06:0014.5N 133.0E30 kt1002 mbXX
Aug 21, 12:0014.6N 132.7E35 kt1002 mbXX
Aug 21, 18:0014.6N 132.4E40 kt1000 mbXX
Aug 22, 00:0014.7N 132.0E50 kt998 mbXX
Aug 22, 06:0015.0N 131.7E60 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 22, 12:0015.3N 131.5E65 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 22, 18:0015.7N 131.3E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 23, 00:0016.0N 131.1E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 23, 06:0016.3N 130.8E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 23, 12:0016.5N 130.6E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 23, 18:0016.7N 130.4E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 24, 00:0016.9N 130.1E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 24, 06:0017.1N 129.7E85 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 24, 12:0017.2N 129.3E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 24, 18:0017.3N 128.9E95 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 00:0017.4N 128.5E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 06:0017.6N 128.2E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 12:0017.7N 127.9E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 18:0017.8N 127.7E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 00:0017.9N 127.5E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 06:0018.1N 127.3E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 12:0018.4N 127.0E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 18:0018.8N 126.6E95 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 00:0019.1N 126.2E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 06:0019.4N 125.7E105 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 12:0019.7N 125.1E110 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0020.2N 124.4E110 kt950 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0020.8N 123.7E105 kt950 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 06:0021.5N 123.1E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 12:0022.4N 122.5E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 18:0023.4N 121.7E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 00:0024.4N 121.0E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 06:0025.3N 120.3E80 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 12:0026.2N 119.7E65 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 18:0027.0N 119.1E50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 00:0028.0N 118.4E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 06:0029.0N 117.4E30 kt1004 mbMixed
Aug 30, 12:0030.1N 116.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0031.4N 115.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 00:0029.1N 112.7E1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 06:0029.1N 112.5E1002 mbTropical storm

Other Western Pacific storms of 1997

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.