1963 Pacific typhoon season

A normal count with many strong typhoons

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued 663 warnings in 1963 on 19 typhoons, 6 tropical storms and 3 depressions. It called 19 typhoons a normal year, against an average of 18.9 for 1952 to 1962, and a sharp drop from the record 24 of 1962. Its 25 tropical storms and typhoons match the site's archive count, which uses one-minute winds during the tropical stage.

The typhoons that did form ran strong. The archive counts 14 major typhoons of 96 kt or more and puts the season's accumulated cyclone energy at 376.5. Other tallies count eight super typhoons, using the older threshold of 130 kt; only two of them, Shirley and Judy, crossed the 137 kt Category 5 line in the archive.

The JTWC found that 15 of the 19 typhoons recurved into the westerlies and 4 dissipated over land before recurving. Its 24-hour forecast track errors averaged 127 nautical miles, down from 144 in 1962. The year also brought a naming change: the Philippine Weather Bureau began giving local names to storms in its area, so many 1963 typhoons carry two names, such as Gloria, known locally as Oniang.

Olive hits the Marianas, then Polly and Shirley

Typhoon Olive became the first typhoon on 27 April and peaked at 125 kt and 920 hPa in the archive on 29 April, on its way through the Mariana Islands. About 95 percent of homes on Saipan suffered extensive damage and another 5 percent were destroyed. On Guam and Tinian, 1,000 people lost their homes, and Guam's partial repairs from Typhoon Karen were set back.

Typhoon Polly stayed offshore, passing about 190 km southeast of Tokyo on 5 June, but its rain set off 807 landslides and flooded more than 36,000 homes. It killed 18 people, and most of the damage fell on crops. Typhoon Shirley reached 140 kt on 16 June over the Philippine Sea, the first Category 5 of the year, then weakened as it crossed the East China Sea toward Korea.

Typhoon Bess and the record for warnings

Typhoon Wendy peaked at 135 kt in mid-July and affected Taiwan and the Asian mainland, according to the JTWC's list of land areas hit by typhoons. Typhoon Bess formed on 27 July and ran until 11 August, the longest track in the archive for 1963. The JTWC judged its path the most erratic of the year and issued 61 warnings over 15 days, an all-time record for the center.

Bess peaked at 130 kt on 4 August and weakened as it moved north. It struck Japan on 9 August, well below that peak, and it killed 23 people and left 6 missing on Kyushu. Typhoon Carmen peaked at 125 kt on 12 August and later affected Palau, Hainan and Vietnam, according to the JTWC. Typhoon Della, a 100 kt storm, reached Japan later in the month; the JTWC compared its size and origin with Typhoon Vera of 1962, which formed in the same area and received its first warning on the same date.

Typhoon Gloria's floods in Taiwan

Typhoon Faye crossed Batan Island and Taiwan in early September before reaching Hong Kong, where 3 people died. Typhoon Gloria followed within days. It peaked at 135 kt and 920 hPa in the archive on 9 September, then weakened before it struck the northeastern tip of Taiwan on 11 September with winds of about 100 mph.

Gloria's rain caused severe flooding across northern Taiwan. It killed 239 people and left 89 missing. The storm hit eastern China that night at about 85 mph, and the JTWC noted that it then made a cyclonic loop along the mainland northwest of Taiwan before it dissipated.

Judy's concentric eyes and an October cluster

Typhoon Judy moved north through the western Pacific and peaked at 150 kt on 2 October near the Bonin Islands, the season's highest winds, before curving northeast well off Japan. Reconnaissance measured a minimum sea-level pressure of 917 mb, slightly below the archive's 920 hPa. The JTWC noted that Judy at one point had two closed rings of eyewall cloud and part of a third, a feature it had also seen in Typhoon Karen in 1962.

Typhoon Kit, peaking at 135 kt on 9 October, had the largest circulation of the year, with a radius of curvature of 700 miles. Typhoon Lola reached 130 kt and looped west of Guam. The JTWC observed a Fujiwhara interaction between Lola and Typhoon Mamie, which recurved within the same six hours, Mamie northwest of Marcus Island and Lola southwest of Iwo Jima.

Two unusual December typhoons

Typhoon Phyllis formed in the South China Sea and reached typhoon strength in mid-December. The JTWC called it the smallest and shortest-lived typhoon of the year, and the only tropical cyclone in its records back to 1884 to become a typhoon in the South China Sea in December, when the northeast monsoon usually suppresses development.

Typhoon Susan began south of 5°N, the only typhoon of the year to start that close to the equator. Nauru reported westerly winds of 45 to 52 kt as Susan developed. It peaked at 135 kt on 26 December and the JTWC listed the Marshall and Mariana Islands and Marcus Island among the places it affected. Its tropical stage ended on 29 December, closing the season.