1965 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Lucy 1965
Typhoon Lucy traveled a long distance across the western Pacific before reaching Japan in August 1965. It strengthened far out at sea, then lost much of that intensity as its track curved north toward the Japanese islands.
Drag to pan. Pinch or Ctrl/⌘ + scroll to zoom. Keyboard: plus or minus to zoom, arrow keys to pan, and 0 to show the full track.
173 mph
Aug 20, 1965 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
A northwestward Pacific crossing
Lucy developed near the Marshall Islands in mid-August and moved briskly northwest. It reached typhoon strength while still well east of the Mariana Islands. The archive records its first peak of 150 kt on 18 August, south-southeast of Japan.
The storm's westward motion slowed as it approached Japan. Archived winds fell and then rose again before a more sustained weakening began. Lucy's course turned north, carrying the center toward Honshu rather than continuing into the East China Sea.
Weakening near Japan
Lucy reached Japan as a much weaker typhoon than it had been over the open Pacific. Its track crossed the southern part of Honshu and turned northeast back over water. Winds continued declining as the circulation moved away from the coast.
The tropical stage ended on 24 August. Later archived positions continue east-northeast across the Pacific through 26 August, completing a broad curve from the tropical western Pacific to waters east of Japan.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Lucy in brief
What was Typhoon Lucy's highest wind speed?
173 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Aug 18, 1965, 12:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Lucy?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Aug 17, 1965, 09:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Lucy's lowest pressure?
940 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Aug 20, 1965, 12:00 PM UTC.
When did Typhoon Lucy occur?
The archived track runs from Aug 14, 1965, 12:00 PM UTC to Aug 26, 1965, 06:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Aug 15, 1965, 12:00 AM UTC to Aug 24, 1965, 03:00 AM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Lucy form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1965 season. Its first archived position is 11.8°N, 173.4°E on Aug 14, 1965, 12:00 PM UTC.
Did Typhoon Lucy make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is 81 mph on Aug 22, 1965, 12:00 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