1956 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Gilda 1956
Typhoon Gilda strengthened after crossing the Philippines in September 1956. It turned north and reached Category 5 intensity before continuing toward Taiwan and Fujian. Its route linked three land passages with a period of intense development over the surrounding seas.
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161 mph
Sep 21, 1956 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
The Philippine crossing and renewed strength
Gilda developed east of the Philippines on 17 September. It crossed the country as a Category 1 equivalent typhoon, then turned north and intensified. In the current archive, it first reached Category 5 at 09:00 UTC on 21 September, followed by peak one-minute winds of 140 kt three hours later.
Toward Taiwan and Fujian
Gilda later made landfall in Taiwan and Fujian. The strongest sampled center-over-land position carries winds of 90 kt on 22 September, after the offshore intensity maximum. Its course then continued inland as the cyclone weakened.
The archive's tropical-stage observations end late on 23 September, with later positions extending through 25 September. This longer track preserves the storm's weakening continuation beyond its strongest phase near the islands.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Gilda in brief
What was Typhoon Gilda's highest wind speed?
161 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Sep 21, 1956, 12:00 PM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Gilda?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Sep 21, 1956, 09:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Gilda's lowest pressure?
935 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Sep 21, 1956, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Gilda occur?
The archived track runs from Sep 17, 1956, 06:00 AM UTC to Sep 25, 1956, 06:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Sep 17, 1956, 06:00 AM UTC to Sep 23, 1956, 09:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Gilda form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1956 season. Its first archived position is 12°N, 128.9°E on Sep 17, 1956, 06:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Gilda make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 3 recorded positions; the strongest is 104 mph on Sep 22, 1956, 09:00 AM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
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