1957 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Lola 1957
Typhoon Lola crossed the western Pacific in November 1957, damaging island communities before curving north and east across the ocean. Flooding reached parts of southern Guam, while the storm also damaged crops and a supply vessel in the Marshall Islands.
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184 mph
Nov 15, 1957 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Flooding and damage in the islands
Lola began its archived track near 6°N, 170.8°E on 7 November and moved west across the Pacific. The historical account records flooding four to five feet deep in parts of Merizo, Guam. Near Kili Island, the storm destroyed crops and sank the island's supply ship.
A powerful peak and an eastward turn
Lola turned onto a more northerly course and reached Category 5 strength on 15 November. Its archived one-minute sustained winds peaked at 160 kt at 06:00 UTC on 16 November, a day after the first occurrence of its minimum pressure of 900 hPa.
The typhoon weakened as it curved east. It briefly regained typhoon strength after dropping to tropical-storm intensity, then weakened again farther north. The track crossed the date line before the final archived observations on 22 November.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Lola in brief
What was Typhoon Lola's highest wind speed?
184 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Nov 16, 1957, 06:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Lola?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Nov 15, 1957, 12:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Lola's lowest pressure?
900 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Nov 15, 1957, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Lola occur?
The archived track runs from Nov 7, 1957, 06:00 AM UTC to Nov 22, 1957, 12:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Nov 7, 1957, 06:00 AM UTC to Nov 22, 1957, 12:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Lola form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1957 season. Its first archived position is 6°N, 170.8°E on Nov 7, 1957, 06:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Lola make landfall?
No archived position places Typhoon Lola'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