1961 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Pamela 1961
Typhoon Pamela intensified rapidly before striking eastern Taiwan in September 1961. It weakened across the island's mountains and the Taiwan Strait, then reached China as a tropical storm. Tens of thousands of people lost their homes during its passage.
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178 mph
Sep 11, 1961 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
A rapid rise before Taiwan
Pamela's tropical-stage observations begin on 8 September. By 11 September, it had become a Category 5 typhoon, with archived one-minute winds of 155 kt and a minimum pressure of 910 hPa at 12:00 UTC. It reached eastern Taiwan later that day after weakening from its peak.
Across Taiwan and the strait
The strongest sampled center-over-land observation carries winds of 105 kt at 21:00 UTC on 11 September. Pamela crossed Taiwan and the strait, then reached eastern China as a tropical storm. The archive's tropical stage ends on 12 September, with later positions continuing through 13 September.
The historical account reports about 50,000 people homeless and US$5 million in damage in 1961 dollars. It lists 98 casualties and 27 missing people, reflecting the severe human cost of the crossing.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Pamela in brief
What was Typhoon Pamela's highest wind speed?
178 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Sep 11, 1961, 12:00 PM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Pamela?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Sep 11, 1961, 06:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Pamela's lowest pressure?
910 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Sep 11, 1961, 12:00 PM UTC.
When did Typhoon Pamela occur?
The archived track runs from Sep 5, 1961, 12:00 AM UTC to Sep 13, 1961, 06:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Sep 8, 1961, 06:00 PM UTC to Sep 12, 1961, 09:00 AM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Pamela form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1961 season. Its first archived position is 18°N, 155°E on Sep 5, 1961, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Pamela make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 2 recorded positions; the strongest is 121 mph on Sep 11, 1961, 09:00 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