Super Typhoon Isa (1997)
Super Typhoon Isa reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between April 9, 1997 and April 24, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb. It killed 19 people in the United States, by the National Weather Service’s record.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Super Typhoon Isa, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1997 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- Western Pacific
- Dates
- April 9, 1997 to April 24, 1997
- Peak strength
- Category 5, 145 kt (167 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 940 mb (27.76 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 910 km (565 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 43.9
- Fastest the center moved
- 35 kt (40 mph)
- Identifier
- WP021997
Deaths and damage
The sources count different things and are not added together.
NOAA Storm Events
19 deaths (19 direct, 0 indirect)$3.0 million
What National Weather Service offices recorded county by county in 1 states and marine areas, in the United States only. Property and crop damage as each office estimated it, which is not a national loss total.
In the United States
NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.
- Deaths
- 19 (19 direct, 0 indirect)
- Injuries
- 8
- Property damage
- $2.4 million
- Crop damage
- $600,000
- Events recorded
- 3 in 1 reports from 1 states and marine areas
State by state
| State or marine area | Deaths | Injuries | Damage | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guam | 19 | 8 | $3.0 million | 3 |
What was recorded
2 hurricane (typhoon), 1 heavy rain.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 9, 00:00 | 6.2N 153.0E | 15 kt | Not reported | |
| Apr 9, 06:00 | 6.6N 154.4E | 20 kt | Not reported | |
| Apr 9, 12:00 | 7.2N 155.7E | 20 kt | Not reported | |
| Apr 9, 18:00 | 8.4N 156.4E | 20 kt | Not reported | |
| Apr 10, 00:00 | 9.7N 156.9E | 20 kt | Not reported | |
| Apr 10, 06:00 | 10.0N 157.4E | 20 kt | Not reported | |
| Apr 10, 12:00 | 9.8N 157.7E | 20 kt | Not reported | |
| Apr 10, 18:00 | 9.6N 157.9E | 25 kt | Not reported | |
| Apr 11, 00:00 | 9.2N 158.1E | 25 kt | Not reported | |
| Apr 11, 06:00 | 8.7N 158.2E | 25 kt | Not reported | |
| Apr 11, 12:00 | 8.2N 158.2E | 25 kt | Not reported | |
| Apr 11, 18:00 | 7.7N 158.1E | 30 kt | Not reported | |
| Apr 12, 00:00 | 7.2N 158.0E | 30 kt | 1002 mb | Mixed |
| Apr 12, 06:00 | 7.0N 158.4E | 35 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 12, 12:00 | 7.3N 158.6E | 40 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 12, 18:00 | 7.8N 158.5E | 45 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 13, 00:00 | 8.2N 158.2E | 55 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 13, 06:00 | 8.7N 157.7E | 55 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 13, 12:00 | 9.1N 157.1E | 60 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 13, 18:00 | 9.6N 156.2E | 65 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 14, 00:00 | 10.0N 155.3E | 65 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 14, 06:00 | 10.1N 154.3E | 65 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 14, 12:00 | 10.1N 153.1E | 65 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 14, 18:00 | 10.1N 151.8E | 70 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 15, 00:00 | 10.1N 150.5E | 75 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 15, 06:00 | 10.1N 149.2E | 80 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 15, 12:00 | 10.1N 148.2E | 85 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 15, 18:00 | 10.2N 147.2E | 90 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 16, 00:00 | 10.3N 146.5E | 95 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 16, 06:00 | 10.8N 145.7E | 100 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 16, 12:00 | 11.0N 144.8E | 105 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 16, 18:00 | 11.2N 143.9E | 105 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 17, 00:00 | 11.5N 143.3E | 105 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 17, 06:00 | 11.9N 142.7E | 110 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 17, 12:00 | 12.4N 142.0E | 110 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 17, 18:00 | 12.8N 141.3E | 115 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 18, 00:00 | 13.1N 140.5E | 115 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 18, 06:00 | 13.2N 139.8E | 120 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 18, 12:00 | 13.4N 139.3E | 125 kt | 955 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 18, 18:00 | 13.8N 138.8E | 125 kt | 955 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 19, 00:00 | 14.3N 138.4E | 125 kt | 950 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 19, 06:00 | 14.8N 138.1E | 130 kt | 950 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 19, 12:00 | 15.4N 137.9E | 135 kt | 945 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 19, 18:00 | 16.0N 137.8E | 140 kt | 945 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 20, 00:00 | 16.6N 137.7E | 145 kt | 940 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 20, 06:00 | 17.3N 137.6E | 145 kt | 940 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 20, 12:00 | 18.1N 137.6E | 140 kt | 940 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 20, 18:00 | 19.0N 137.6E | 130 kt | 940 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 21, 00:00 | 20.0N 137.6E | 125 kt | 950 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 21, 06:00 | 21.0N 138.0E | 115 kt | 955 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 21, 12:00 | 22.0N 138.7E | 100 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 21, 18:00 | 23.1N 139.1E | 90 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 22, 00:00 | 24.5N 139.9E | 80 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 22, 06:00 | 25.7N 141.1E | 75 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 22, 12:00 | 26.8N 142.5E | 70 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 22, 18:00 | 27.5N 144.1E | 65 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 23, 00:00 | 28.2N 145.8E | 60 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 23, 06:00 | 29.0N 147.9E | 50 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 23, 12:00 | 30.0N 150.4E | 45 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 23, 18:00 | 31.1N 152.9E | 45 kt | 996 mb | Mixed |
| Apr 24, 00:00 | 32.4N 158.2E | 1000 mb | Mixed | |
| Apr 24, 06:00 | 34.4N 161.6E | 1000 mb | Mixed | |
| Apr 24, 12:00 | 36.5N 164.6E | 1004 mb | Mixed |
Other Western Pacific storms of 1997
- Tropical Storm HannahWestern Pacific · 1997
- Tropical Storm JimmyWestern Pacific · 1997
- Tropical Storm KellyWestern Pacific · 1997
- Tropical Storm LeviWestern Pacific · 1997
- Typhoon MarieWestern Pacific · 1997
- Super Typhoon NestorWestern Pacific · 1997
- Typhoon OpalWestern Pacific · 1997
- Typhoon PeterWestern Pacific · 1997
- Super Typhoon RosieWestern Pacific · 1997
- Tropical Storm ScottWestern Pacific · 1997
- Typhoon TinaWestern Pacific · 1997
- Typhoon VictorWestern Pacific · 1997
- Super Typhoon WinnieWestern Pacific · 1997
- Typhoon YuleWestern Pacific · 1997
- Typhoon AmberWestern Pacific · 1997
- Typhoon ZitaWestern Pacific · 1997
- Super Typhoon BingWestern Pacific · 1997
- Tropical Storm CassWestern Pacific · 1997
- Typhoon DavidWestern Pacific · 1997
- Typhoon FritzWestern Pacific · 1997
- Super Typhoon GingerWestern Pacific · 1997
- Tropical Storm HankWestern Pacific · 1997
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1997
- Super Typhoon IvanWestern Pacific · 1997
- Super Typhoon JoanWestern Pacific · 1997
- Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1997
- Typhoon LindaWestern Pacific · 1997
- Super Typhoon KeithWestern Pacific · 1997
- Typhoon MortWestern Pacific · 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.