1957 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Faye 1957
Typhoon Faye battered Okinawa in September 1957 while the island was still recovering from Typhoon Emma the previous year. Faye had weakened from Category 5 strength before the encounter, but caused further deaths and destruction. It then continued across the Pacific toward the date line.
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161 mph
Sep 20, 1957 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
A Category 5 peak before Okinawa
Faye's archived track begins on 17 September near 9.7°N, 147.3°E. It intensified over the western Pacific, reaching peak one-minute sustained winds of 140 kt at 12:00 UTC on 20 September. Its first Category 5 observation occurred three hours earlier.
Another damaging storm for Okinawa
Faye weakened before striking Okinawa as a Category 2 equivalent typhoon. The saved season account reports 53 deaths and 79 people missing. The damage added to the burden of rebuilding after Emma's passage a year earlier.
Across the Pacific
After Okinawa, Faye continued over the Pacific and crossed the date line. Tropical-stage observations in the current archive end on 27 September, while the full track continues until 1 October. The later positions follow the storm well beyond the island encounter.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Faye in brief
What was Typhoon Faye's highest wind speed?
161 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Sep 20, 1957, 12:00 PM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Faye?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Sep 20, 1957, 09:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Faye's lowest pressure?
930 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Sep 20, 1957, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Faye occur?
The archived track runs from Sep 17, 1957, 06:00 PM UTC to Oct 1, 1957, 12:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Sep 17, 1957, 06:00 PM UTC to Sep 27, 1957, 09:00 AM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Faye form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1957 season. Its first archived position is 9.7°N, 147.3°E on Sep 17, 1957, 06:00 PM UTC.
Did Typhoon Faye make landfall?
No archived position places Typhoon Faye'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