1964 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Opal 1964
Typhoon Opal brought a late-season disaster to Luzon in December 1964. After intensifying over the western Pacific, it weakened on its approach to the Philippines but still damaged crops, washed out railway lines and displaced thousands of people.
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196 mph
Dec 12, 1964 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
A powerful December typhoon
Opal formed from a tropical wave in the Caroline Islands. Aircraft reconnaissance found a typhoon southwest of Chuuk on 9 December, and it subsequently passed between Yap and Palau. The archive records peak one-minute winds of 170 kt on 12 December.
The storm passed north of Catanduanes and Polillo before crossing central Luzon. Its circulation weakened and made a small counterclockwise loop over western Luzon, then moved north toward Lingayen Gulf. Opal crossed northwestern Luzon and the Babuyan Islands before becoming extratropical near Okinawa.
Crop losses and washed-out railways
The Philippines reported 26 deaths and about US$25 million in damage at 1964 values. Rice and coconut crops suffered across central and southeastern Luzon, while thousands of residents lost their homes. A landslide in Virac killed two people.
Flooding washed out a railway section in Quezon, derailing eight coaches of a train carrying about 1,500 passengers. Flights were canceled and Manila's airport closed during the storm. Earlier, surge had flooded tents on Angaur and Peleliu in Palau; later, two people died during a rescue from a stranded ship near Okinawa.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Opal in brief
What was Typhoon Opal's highest wind speed?
196 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Dec 12, 1964, 06:00 PM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Opal?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Dec 11, 1964, 06:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Opal's lowest pressure?
900 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Dec 12, 1964, 12:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Opal occur?
The archived track runs from Dec 8, 1964, 06:00 PM UTC to Dec 18, 1964, 06:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Dec 8, 1964, 06:00 PM UTC to Dec 16, 1964, 09:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Opal form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1964 season. Its first archived position is 5.9°N, 153.5°E on Dec 8, 1964, 06:00 PM UTC.
Did Typhoon Opal make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 2 recorded positions; the strongest is 86 mph on Dec 14, 1964, 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