Typhoon Songda path, 2004

What the record says

Songda was a typhoon in the Western North Pacific basin that lasted about 15 days, from 26 August 2004 to 10 September 2004. Its peak was Category 4 (125 kt) on 31 August 2004, with a 1-minute sustained wind of 125 kt (144 mph, 232 km/h). Its lowest recorded pressure was 925 hPa.

• Category 4peak intensity
• 125 ktpeak wind (144 mph)
• 925 hPalowest pressure
• 15 dayslifetime

Source of the peak wind: US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (western Pacific). The regional forecast centre (RSMC Tokyo (Japan Meteorological Agency)) gave a peak of 95 kt on its own averaging convention (10-minute winds), so the two figures differ.

It has its own page because it reached category 4 or stronger.

This page gives the official record's figures. It does not describe the human cost of the storm, which is far larger than any wind speed or pressure here.

Where it came ashore

The record shows no landfall: the storm stayed at sea.

Countries it came within 50 km of

Strongest effect first.

• Northern Mariana Islands
• Japan
• Marshall Islands

US counties it came within 50 km of

• Northern Islands Municipality, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

How to read this track

The line joins the storm's six-hourly positions with straight lines, coloured by its intensity at each point, so it shows how the storm strengthened and weakened. The real path curved between the positions. A dashed grey stretch means the storm had become post-tropical. Records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are estimates.

Source: NOAA NCEI IBTrACS, public domain. See data sources and caveats.