Typhoon Pamela path, 1961

What the record says

Pamela was a typhoon in the Western North Pacific basin that lasted about 8 days, from 5 September 1961 to 13 September 1961. Its peak was Category 5 (155 kt) on 11 September 1961, with a 1-minute sustained wind of 155 kt (178 mph, 287 km/h). Its lowest recorded pressure was 910 hPa.

• Category 5peak intensity
• 155 ktpeak wind (178 mph)
• 910 hPalowest pressure
• 8 dayslifetime

Source of the peak wind: US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (western Pacific).

It has its own page because it reached category 5 or stronger.

This page gives the official record's figures. It does not describe the human cost of the storm, which is far larger than any wind speed or pressure here.

Where it came ashore

• 12 September 1961: People's Republic of China (30 kt)

A landfall here is the first tropical position over land after time at sea, so it is within about six hours of the real event. The record shows up to 8.

Countries it came within 50 km of

Strongest effect first.

• Taiwan
• People's Republic of China
• Northern Mariana Islands

US counties it came within 50 km of

• Northern Islands Municipality, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
• Saipan Municipality, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
• Tinian Municipality, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

How to read this track

The line joins the storm's six-hourly positions with straight lines, coloured by its intensity at each point, so it shows how the storm strengthened and weakened. The real path curved between the positions. A dashed grey stretch means the storm had become post-tropical. Records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are estimates.

Source: NOAA NCEI IBTrACS, public domain. See data sources and caveats.