1959 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Gilda 1959
Typhoon Gilda struck the central Philippines shortly before Christmas in 1959. It swept away homes, damaged coconut plantations and severed communications, with Samar among the hardest-hit areas. The cyclone then crossed the South China Sea and weakened toward Vietnam.
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173 mph
Dec 16, 1959 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
A westward course toward Samar
Gilda developed from a disturbance near Chuuk and became a typhoon in mid-December. A weak trough slowed it but failed to turn it away from the Philippines. The archive records peak one-minute sustained winds of 150 kt at 06:00 UTC on 17 December, before its passage onto Samar early on 18 December.
Homes and livelihoods destroyed
Across nine Philippine provinces, Gilda killed at least 23 people and displaced about 60,000. Storm surge and flooding swept away roughly 2,500 homes in 27 towns. On Samar, damage to crops, homes and communications totaled about US$500,000 in 1959 dollars.
Fourteen people died when the motorship Rizal sank off southern Luzon, while 64 survived. The coconut industry suffered losses expected to take about four years to recover. Total Philippine damage reached US$1.5 million in 1959 dollars, and welfare agencies accelerated relief as Christmas approached.
Across the South China Sea
Gilda weakened after emerging into the South China Sea. It reached the coast near Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm in Vietnam as a tropical storm on 21 December and continued inland into Cambodia. The archived track ends on 22 December.
IMPACT
Reported impact
| Deaths | 23 |
|---|
Facts from Wikidata.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Gilda in brief
What was Typhoon Gilda's highest wind speed?
173 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Dec 17, 1959, 06:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Gilda?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Dec 16, 1959, 06:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Gilda's lowest pressure?
925 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Dec 16, 1959, 06:00 PM UTC.
When did Typhoon Gilda occur?
The archived track runs from Dec 11, 1959, 06:00 PM UTC to Dec 22, 1959, 12:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Dec 11, 1959, 06:00 PM UTC to Dec 22, 1959, 12:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Gilda form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1959 season. Its first archived position is 6.3°N, 146.5°E on Dec 11, 1959, 06:00 PM UTC.
Did Typhoon Gilda make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 4 recorded positions; the strongest is 155 mph on Dec 18, 1959, 03:00 AM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
How many people died in Typhoon Gilda?
23 deaths are recorded by Wikidata.
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