1964 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Wilda 1964
Typhoon Wilda swept across Japan in September 1964, disrupting transport and damaging coastal communities shortly before the Tokyo Olympics. Its route carried it from the Philippine Sea into Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu before it accelerated northeast.
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173 mph
Sep 21, 1964 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Turning north toward Japan
Wilda developed east-southeast of Guam and moved northwest through the region of the Northern Mariana Islands. It became a typhoon on 19 September and continued strengthening over the Philippine Sea. The archive places its peak one-minute winds at 150 kt on 21 September.
The storm curved north and reached Kagoshima on 24 September. It crossed Shikoku and southern Honshu, entered the Sea of Japan and turned northeast. A further landfall in northern Honshu followed on 25 September as Wilda weakened to a tropical storm.
Waves, damaged ships and disrupted travel
Wilda brought large waves to southern Kyushu and damaging winds to the islands farther south. On Amami Oshima, crops and buildings were damaged and Naze lost power. A British freighter grounded and broke in two, but all 41 people aboard were rescued.
Japan reported 47 deaths and 530 injuries. Dikes were overtopped, ships were sunk or damaged, and air and railway services were interrupted. Roof damage reached the Olympic Village in Tokyo only two weeks before the Games began.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Wilda in brief
What was Typhoon Wilda's highest wind speed?
173 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Sep 21, 1964, 06:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Wilda?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Sep 20, 1964, 09:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Wilda's lowest pressure?
895 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Sep 21, 1964, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Wilda occur?
The archived track runs from Sep 16, 1964, 06:00 PM UTC to Sep 27, 1964, 12:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Sep 18, 1964, 06:00 PM UTC to Sep 25, 1964, 09:00 AM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Wilda form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1964 season. Its first archived position is 11.7°N, 149.3°E on Sep 16, 1964, 06:00 PM UTC.
Did Typhoon Wilda make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 3 recorded positions; the strongest is 113 mph on Sep 24, 1964, 09:00 AM 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