1955 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Louise 1955
Typhoon Louise brought destructive wind and flooding to Japan in September 1955. It weakened from a Category 5 peak before reaching Kyushu, but still displaced large numbers of residents. Strong winds associated with the storm later helped a fire spread through Niigata's business district.
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173 mph
Sep 24, 1955 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
An intense typhoon approaching Japan
Louise developed on 20 September over the western Pacific. It strengthened as wind shear decreased and ocean temperatures rose, then weakened during an eyewall replacement cycle. The archive records peak one-minute winds of 150 kt on 25 September, with its first Category 5 observation twelve hours earlier.
Wind and flooding on Kyushu
Louise weakened to a lower-category typhoon before affecting Kyushu and continuing across Japan. The reported toll on Kyushu was 31 people killed, 41 missing and 241 injured. Nearly 197,500 people suffered flooding or loss of their homes.
The strongest sampled center-over-land observation carries winds of 70 kt on 29 September. Tropical-stage observations end on 30 September, while the full archived track continues into 2 October.
Fire in Niigata
On the morning of 2 October, strong winds spread a fire across Niigata's commercial district. More than 1,100 buildings burned, although no one died in the fire. U.S. Air Force personnel stationed outside the city joined the effort to assist residents.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Louise in brief
What was Typhoon Louise's highest wind speed?
173 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Sep 25, 1955, 12:00 PM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Louise?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Sep 25, 1955, 12:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Louise's lowest pressure?
930 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Sep 24, 1955, 06:00 PM UTC.
When did Typhoon Louise occur?
The archived track runs from Sep 20, 1955, 12:00 AM UTC to Oct 2, 1955, 12:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Sep 20, 1955, 06:00 AM UTC to Sep 30, 1955, 03:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Louise form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1955 season. Its first archived position is 13°N, 150°E on Sep 20, 1955, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Louise make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is 81 mph on Sep 29, 1955, 03:00 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