1958 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Helen 1958
Typhoon Helen reached southeastern Japan in September 1958 after weakening from a Category 5 peak. It followed the Japanese coastline before turning north toward the Sea of Okhotsk. The storm caused deaths, injuries and a substantial number of missing people in Japan.
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173 mph
Sep 13, 1958 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
A powerful offshore phase
Helen developed over the western Pacific in early September. The archive first reaches Category 5 at 21:00 UTC on 13 September, with peak one-minute winds of 150 kt three hours later. Its minimum pressure of 920 hPa first appears a day before the wind maximum.
Along the Japanese coast
Helen moved northeast and weakened as it approached southeastern Japan on 17 September. The historical account reports 24 deaths, 44 people missing and 108 injuries. The strongest sampled center-over-land observation in the archive carries winds of 80 kt early on 18 September.
The storm followed the Japanese coastline, then turned north toward the Sea of Okhotsk. The archive's tropical stage ends on 18 September, while later positions continue through 22 September.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Helen in brief
What was Typhoon Helen's highest wind speed?
173 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Sep 14, 1958, 12:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Helen?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Sep 13, 1958, 09:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Helen's lowest pressure?
920 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Sep 13, 1958, 12:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Helen occur?
The archived track runs from Sep 8, 1958, 12:00 AM UTC to Sep 22, 1958, 06:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Sep 8, 1958, 12:00 PM UTC to Sep 18, 1958, 09:00 AM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Helen form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1958 season. Its first archived position is 10°N, 142°E on Sep 8, 1958, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Helen make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is 92 mph on Sep 18, 1958, 12:00 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