1965 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Mary 1965
Typhoon Mary struck eastern Taiwan in August 1965 after intensifying over the Philippine Sea. It weakened considerably before reaching land, then continued into eastern China with strong winds and heavy rain.
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173 mph
Aug 17, 1965 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Strengthening on the approach to Taiwan
Mary's archived track begins on 14 August east of the Philippines. It initially traveled almost due west before bending northwest toward Taiwan. Its peak one-minute winds reached 150 kt on 17 August, while the center was still over the Philippine Sea.
Mary approached eastern Taiwan the following day. Its winds had fallen below the offshore peak by the time it crossed the island, though the storm still brought strong winds and heavy rainfall. The track then continued across the Taiwan Strait toward China.
Weakening over China
The circulation weakened further after reaching eastern China and turned north. Later archived positions bend northeast toward the seas near Korea and Japan, then continue into the Russian Far East. This continuation extends beyond Mary's destructive typhoon passage across Taiwan.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Mary in brief
What was Typhoon Mary's highest wind speed?
173 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Aug 17, 1965, 06:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Mary?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Aug 17, 1965, 03:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Mary's lowest pressure?
950 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Aug 17, 1965, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Mary occur?
The archived track runs from Aug 14, 1965, 12:00 AM UTC to Aug 25, 1965, 12:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Aug 14, 1965, 06:00 AM UTC to Aug 23, 1965, 09:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Mary form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1965 season. Its first archived position is 19.8°N, 138.5°E on Aug 14, 1965, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Mary make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 3 recorded positions; the strongest is 92 mph on Aug 18, 1965, 06:00 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