1954 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Sally 1954
Typhoon Sally approached the eastern Philippines as an intense cyclone in November 1954. It spent several days near Category 5 strength before turning away from Luzon and weakening over the Pacific. Its curved track kept the sampled center offshore.
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
Nov 14, 1954 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Across the Philippine Sea
Sally began its archived journey on 10 November near 10.8°N, 151.8°E. Moving west, it crossed the Philippine Sea and gained strength on its approach to the islands. It first reached Category 5 at 21:00 UTC on 13 November, with peak one-minute sustained winds of 150 kt at 00:00 UTC on 14 November.
Sally maintained very strong winds as it edged northwest along the eastern side of the Philippines. The season history describes it brushing the country as a Category 5 typhoon. By 18 November, the archived center lay near 17.2°N, 122.5°E, close to northeastern Luzon.
The turn away from Luzon
Sally then curved northeast into the open Pacific. Its winds declined during that turn, and the later track accelerated toward the waters south of Japan. The final archived position falls on 21 November, more than eleven days after the first observations.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Sally in brief
What was Typhoon Sally's highest wind speed?
173 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Nov 14, 1954, 12:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Sally?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Nov 13, 1954, 09:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Sally's lowest pressure?
925 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Nov 14, 1954, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Sally occur?
The archived track runs from Nov 10, 1954, 12:00 AM UTC to Nov 21, 1954, 12:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Nov 10, 1954, 12:00 AM UTC to Nov 21, 1954, 12:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Sally form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1954 season. Its first archived position is 10.8°N, 151.8°E on Nov 10, 1954, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Sally make landfall?
No archived position places Typhoon Sally'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