1958 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Ophelia 1958
Typhoon Ophelia damaged a succession of Micronesian islands in January 1958. Its passage struck homes and weather-observation facilities from the Marshall Islands to Yap. The storm also claimed the lives of a reconnaissance crew during a mission into the cyclone.
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161 mph
Jan 8, 1958 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Across the Marshall and Caroline Islands
Ophelia struck Jaluit Atoll on 7 January, killing fourteen people. It strengthened, then weakened before reaching Pohnpei on 10 January and Chuuk the following day. On Pohnpei, wind tore the roof from the U.S. Weather Bureau office; at Chuuk, it destroyed the balloon-inflation shelter and damaged other buildings.
Yap also suffered damage to its weather station. Wind removed the office's metal roof and damaged the inflation building, observation equipment and radio antenna. These losses disrupted the facilities used to observe Pacific weather.
Renewed strength and a fatal flight
Ophelia intensified again on 12 January. The archive records its Category 5 peak of 140 kt at 00:00 UTC on 13 January. It then weakened as it drifted northward.
On 15 January, a U.S. Air Force WB-50 crashed during a reconnaissance flight into Ophelia, killing nine people. Tropical-stage observations end on 17 January, and the complete archive continues into 18 January.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Ophelia in brief
What was Typhoon Ophelia's highest wind speed?
161 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Jan 13, 1958, 12:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Ophelia?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Jan 13, 1958, 12:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Ophelia's lowest pressure?
940 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Jan 8, 1958, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Ophelia occur?
The archived track runs from Jan 6, 1958, 06:00 PM UTC to Jan 18, 1958, 12:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Jan 6, 1958, 06:00 PM UTC to Jan 17, 1958, 03:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Ophelia form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1958 season. Its first archived position is 3.1°N, 170.9°E on Jan 6, 1958, 06:00 PM UTC.
Did Typhoon Ophelia make landfall?
No archived position places Typhoon Ophelia'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