The 1997 season

Typhoon Opal (1997)

Typhoon Opal reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between June 13, 1997 and June 22, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 960 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Opal, 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.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
June 13, 1997 to June 22, 1997
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
960 mb (28.35 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.7
Identifier
WP081997

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jun 13, 12:0012.1N 138.8E15 ktNot reported
Jun 13, 18:0012.1N 138.0E15 ktNot reported
Jun 14, 00:0012.2N 137.2E15 ktNot reported
Jun 14, 06:0012.4N 136.4E15 ktNot reported
Jun 14, 12:0012.7N 135.6E15 kt1008 mbMixed
Jun 14, 18:0013.1N 134.9E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Jun 15, 00:0013.6N 134.2E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jun 15, 06:0014.1N 133.6E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jun 15, 12:0014.5N 133.2E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jun 15, 18:0014.8N 133.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jun 16, 00:0015.0N 132.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jun 16, 06:0015.3N 132.6E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jun 16, 12:0015.6N 132.5E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 16, 18:0016.0N 132.4E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jun 17, 00:0016.5N 132.4E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jun 17, 06:0017.3N 132.6E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jun 17, 12:0018.2N 132.8E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jun 17, 18:0019.5N 133.2E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jun 18, 00:0020.9N 133.6E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jun 18, 06:0022.4N 133.6E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jun 18, 12:0024.0N 133.6E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jun 18, 18:0025.7N 133.6E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jun 19, 00:0027.4N 133.6E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jun 19, 06:0029.1N 133.7E85 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jun 19, 12:0030.6N 134.2E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jun 19, 18:0032.1N 135.0E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jun 20, 00:0033.9N 136.5E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jun 20, 06:0035.9N 138.8E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 20, 12:0038.6N 141.1E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jun 20, 18:0040.5N 143.2E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jun 21, 00:0041.2N 145.5E45 kt990 mbExtratropical
Jun 21, 06:0041.4N 148.0E40 kt990 mbExtratropical
Jun 21, 12:0042.0N 152.2E990 mbExtratropical
Jun 21, 18:0042.1N 155.0E990 mbExtratropical
Jun 22, 00:0043.2N 159.1E996 mbExtratropical
Jun 22, 06:0044.6N 162.6E996 mbExtratropical

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.