1957 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Kit 1957
Typhoon Kit struck northern Luzon during the Philippine election in November 1957. Wind and torrential rain damaged polling places, homes and other property, disrupting voting across a large part of the country. The storm had reached Category 5 strength before approaching the islands.
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161 mph
Nov 11, 1957 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Intensification toward Luzon
Kit developed over the western Pacific and moved west, intensifying faster after reaching tropical-storm strength. Its archived one-minute winds peaked at 140 kt at 12:00 UTC on 10 November. The minimum pressure of 910 hPa followed on 11 November, as Kit approached the northern Philippines.
An election interrupted
Kit crossed northern Luzon on 11 November. Torrential rain and high winds affected nearly half of the 7.2 million people expected to vote, and some polling places washed away. At least nineteen people died in the Philippines, and thousands lost their homes.
The strongest sampled center-over-land observation carries winds of 105 kt, after the storm had weakened from its peak. Kit regained some strength after leaving the islands, then continued toward the Ryukyu region. Its tropical-stage observations end on 16 November, with the full track extending through 18 November.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Kit in brief
What was Typhoon Kit's highest wind speed?
161 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Nov 10, 1957, 12:00 PM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Kit?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Nov 10, 1957, 12:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Kit's lowest pressure?
910 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Nov 11, 1957, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Kit occur?
The archived track runs from Nov 4, 1957, 06:00 PM UTC to Nov 18, 1957, 12:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Nov 7, 1957, 12:00 AM UTC to Nov 16, 1957, 03:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Kit form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1957 season. Its first archived position is 10.6°N, 160.6°E on Nov 4, 1957, 06:00 PM UTC.
Did Typhoon Kit make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is 121 mph on Nov 11, 1957, 09:00 PM 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