2011 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Songda 2011
Songda remained offshore while bringing damaging rain to the Philippines and strong winds to Okinawa. The typhoon reached Category 5 strength before weakening on its way toward Japan.
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161 mph
May 26, 2011 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
From Yap to a powerful typhoon
Songda organized southeast of Yap in May. Observations from the island led forecasters to revise an early estimate of its strength downward, but the system became an established tropical storm on May 21. It moved northwestward and was named Chedeng within the Philippine monitoring area.
The cyclone reached typhoon strength on May 24 and then intensified rapidly. Its archived sustained winds peaked at 140 knots on May 26. The center stayed offshore as the storm continued northward, eventually losing its tropical structure south of Shikoku on May 29.
Flooding and damaging winds offshore
Outer rainbands caused flash floods and landslides in the Philippines, where four deaths were attributed to Songda. Farther north, Okinawa experienced intense gusts and heavy rain, with losses estimated at 23.2 billion yen. Rain spread from Kyushu toward eastern Honshu as the system became extratropical, producing further flooding.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Songda in brief
What was Typhoon Songda's highest wind speed?
161 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on May 26, 2011, 06:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Songda?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on May 26, 2011, 06:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Songda's lowest pressure?
918 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on May 26, 2011, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Songda occur?
The archived track runs from May 19, 2011, 06:00 PM UTC to Jun 2, 2011, 12:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from May 19, 2011, 06:00 PM UTC to May 29, 2011, 03:00 AM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Songda form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 2011 season. Its first archived position is 8.3°N, 141.6°E on May 19, 2011, 06:00 PM UTC.
Did Typhoon Songda make landfall?
No archived position places Typhoon Songda'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