1971 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Amy 1971
Typhoon Amy became an unusually intense early-season cyclone in May 1971. Its compact eye accompanied a central pressure below 900 hPa, while communities in the Caroline Islands suffered destructive winds and widespread housing losses.
Drag to pan. Pinch or Ctrl/⌘ + scroll to zoom. Keyboard: plus or minus to zoom, arrow keys to pan, and 0 to show the full track.
173 mph
May 2, 1971 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Exceptional early-season intensity
Amy organized in late April and became a typhoon by 1 May. Rapid intensification followed, bringing peak archived one-minute winds of 150 kt and a minimum pressure of 890 hPa on 2 May. Reconnaissance described a compact eye about 10 nautical miles across.
After briefly weakening, Amy regained Category 5 strength on 3 May. A more sustained decline began the following day. It retained tropical-storm-force winds until 7 May, when a frontal system absorbed the circulation.
Damage in the Caroline Islands
A falling coconut tree killed one person on Chuuk, then commonly called Truk. Namonuito Atoll suffered extensive destruction, including the loss of its weather station and many homes. A federal disaster declaration followed on 18 May for the affected Micronesian islands.
None of Amy's archived center positions lies over land. The island damage nonetheless shows how a typhoon's destructive winds can reach communities outside the narrow line traced by its center.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Amy in brief
What was Typhoon Amy's highest wind speed?
173 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on May 2, 1971, 06:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Amy?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on May 2, 1971, 12:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Amy's lowest pressure?
890 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on May 2, 1971, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Amy occur?
The archived track runs from Apr 27, 1971, 06:00 PM UTC to May 7, 1971, 06:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Apr 27, 1971, 06:00 PM UTC to May 7, 1971, 06:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Amy form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1971 season. Its first archived position is 5°N, 155°E on Apr 27, 1971, 06:00 PM UTC.
Did Typhoon Amy make landfall?
No archived position places Typhoon Amy's center over land, but positions are six-hourly and a brief landfall can fall between them.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology