1957 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Virginia 1957
Typhoon Virginia passed near the Philippines and struck Taiwan in June 1957 before continuing toward Japan. It reached Category 5 strength east of Luzon, then weakened during its northward journey. Flooding and wind damaged homes and ships along the storm's later path.
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173 mph
Jun 22, 1957 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Intensification east of Luzon
Virginia developed over the western Pacific in mid-June and moved northwest. It strengthened into a tropical storm on 19 June and intensified further over the following days. The archive records peak one-minute winds of 150 kt and a pressure of 900 hPa at 06:00 UTC on 22 June.
Taiwan and southern Japan
Virginia passed near the Philippines before making landfall in Taiwan. It then moved toward the waters between Korea and Japan. The strongest sampled center-over-land observation carries winds of 90 kt on 25 June, below its earlier Category 5 peak.
The historical account reports 30 deaths, 23 missing people and 33 injuries in the Japanese disaster record, along with 396 houses and fourteen ships destroyed. Floods affected about 150,000 people in southern Japan. Taiwan also suffered deaths and damage, and its government allocated 100,000 New Taiwan dollars for relief.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Virginia in brief
What was Typhoon Virginia's highest wind speed?
173 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Jun 22, 1957, 06:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Virginia?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Jun 21, 1957, 06:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Virginia's lowest pressure?
900 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Jun 22, 1957, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Virginia occur?
The archived track runs from Jun 17, 1957, 06:00 AM UTC to Jun 28, 1957, 12:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Jun 18, 1957, 06:00 AM UTC to Jun 28, 1957, 12:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Virginia form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1957 season. Its first archived position is 5.4°N, 155.5°E on Jun 17, 1957, 06:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Virginia make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is 104 mph on Jun 25, 1957, 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