1956 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Thelma 1956
Typhoon Thelma crossed the Philippines in April 1956, then passed near Taiwan and continued toward Japan. It reached Category 5 strength before the Philippine encounter, making its offshore peak much stronger than the winds recorded during its passage over land.
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173 mph
Apr 20, 1956 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
An April typhoon in the Philippine Sea
Thelma formed over the western Pacific on 16 April. The first archived position lies near 5.9°N, 147.3°E. It strengthened on its approach to the Philippines, first reaching Category 5 at 15:00 UTC on 19 April and peak one-minute sustained winds of 150 kt at 00:00 UTC on 20 April.
From the Philippines toward Japan
Thelma struck the Philippines on 21 April. A sampled center-over-land position at 12:00 UTC carries winds of 95 kt, below the earlier Category 5 peak. The storm then passed close to Taiwan on 23 April before reaching Japan.
The U.S. Navy's Fleet Weather Central in Guam stopped following Thelma on 25 April. The current archived track also ends that day, completing a nine-day journey through the western Pacific and along the island chain toward Japan.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Thelma in brief
What was Typhoon Thelma's highest wind speed?
173 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Apr 20, 1956, 12:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Thelma?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Apr 19, 1956, 03:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Thelma's lowest pressure?
935 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Apr 20, 1956, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Thelma occur?
The archived track runs from Apr 16, 1956, 12:00 AM UTC to Apr 25, 1956, 12:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Apr 16, 1956, 12:00 AM UTC to Apr 25, 1956, 12:00 AM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Thelma form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1956 season. Its first archived position is 5.9°N, 147.3°E on Apr 16, 1956, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Thelma make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is 109 mph on Apr 21, 1956, 12:00 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