1958 Pacific typhoon season
The 1958 Pacific typhoon season was an event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation. The season had no official bounds, but tropical cyclones in the Western Pacific Ocean normally develop between May and October. The season was below average in storms, with only twenty-three forming. However, all but two of those storms developed into typhoons, resulting in a well above-average number of typhoons, and a very high ACE figure of 445.8 units. In addition, there were also nine tropical storms tracked only by the JMA. The season began very early, with a very rare super typhoon in January, Typhoon Ophelia, and ended in early December with Typhoon Olga. It also featured [Typhoon Typhoon Ida (1958)|Ida (1958)|Typhoon Ida], the strongest storm ever recorded at that time.
The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the International Date Line. Storms that form east of the date line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see 1958 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Storms formed in the entire west pacific basin were assigned a name by the Fleet Weather Center on Guam.
Seasonal summary
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from:23/10/1958 till:03/11/1958 color:C3 text:"Lorna"
from:26/10/1958 till:03/11/1958 color:C4 text:"Marie"
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Systems
Typhoon Ophelia
At noon on December 31, a vortex was noted along the Intertropical Convergence Zone about south of Hawaii. On January 7, the relatively small tropical storm struck Jaluit Atoll within the southern Marshall Islands, killing 14 people. It rapidly intensified, and reached winds of the next day. Conditions became unfavorable, and steadily weakened to winds. Ponape was struck on January 10, where Ophelia tore off the roof of the United States Weather Bureau office. On January 11, Truk was struck. The Weather Bureau's inflation shelter was destroyed, with other buildings on site severely damaged. On the 12th, favorable conditions allowed Ophelia to reintensify, reaching a peak of on the 13th. Ophelia severely impacted Yap, removing the Weather Bureau office's sheet metal roof and damaging the inflation building, theodolite, and radio antenna. After maintaining that intensity for 18 hours, it quickly weakened as it drifted northward, and dissipated on the 17th. Typhoon Ophelia caused widespread damage on several islands of the Western Pacific. Ophelia also killed nine people when a USAF WB-50 crashed during a recon flight into the storm on January 15.JMA Tropical Storm Two
Tropical Storm 02 developed on April 29. It struck Philippines before dissipating on the following day.Typhoon Phyllis
On May 29, Super Typhoon Phyllis attained a peak of, the strongest typhoon on record in May at the time. Phyllis remained over open waters, and dissipated on June 2, southeast of Japan.JMA Tropical Storm Four
Tropical Storm 04 developed in the South China Sea on May 26. It struck the Chinese province of Guangdong and Hainan, before dissipating on June 6.Typhoon Rita
Typhoon Rita existed from June 7 to June 13 in which it didn't bring any significant damage to land.JMA Tropical Storm Six
Tropical Storm 06 developed on June 8. It crossed the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, before dissipating on June 13.Typhoon Susan
Typhoon Susan existed from June 13 to June 17.Typhoon Tess
Typhoon Tess developed in the vicinity of the Federated States of Micronesia on June 28. The storm moved generally west-northwestward and northwestward, reaching the Ryukyu Islands before dissipating on July 6.Typhoon Viola
Typhoon Viola existed from July 8 to July 14.Typhoon Winnie
Tropical Storm Winnie formed on July 12 to the east of Luzon. It moved northwestward, rapidly intensifying to a Category 4 typhoon within 12 hours. The typhoon weakened slightly, but rapidly strengthened to a super typhoon just before hitting eastern Taiwan on the 15th. Winnie rapidly weakened over the mountainous terrain, and after crossing the Formosa Strait Winnie hit southeastern China. It continued to weaken over land, and dissipated on the 17th. Winnie caused 31 casualties and 53 injuries in Taiwan while crossing.Typhoon Betty
Typhoon Betty existed in the South China Sea from July 13 to July 16.Typhoon Alice
Tropical Storm Alice developed on July 14 in the open western Pacific Ocean. It moved to the northwest and attained typhoon status on the 16th. Alice rapidly intensified on the 19th to a super typhoon, and after turning to the northeast it weakened. Alice hit southeastern Japan on the 22nd, and became extratropical on the 24th near the Kamchatka Peninsula.Shortly after Typhoon Alice made landfall, storm surges occurred in Tokyo Bay, causing floods in Kōtō and Edogawa on Shitamachi region. In the area of Kameido, storm surge in Tokyo Bay reached 2.89 meters in height. Storm surges caused flooding of rivers around Tokyo Bay that damaged 21 ships, damaged 27,673 hectare of crops, destroyed 1,089 and inundated 46,243 houses. Alice caused the deaths of 26 people in total, injuring 64 people and 14 people went missing.