Typhoon Violet (1961)
Typhoon Violet was an unusually intense super typhoon that made landfall in Japan in early October 1961. It was the second strongest typhoon of the year with wind speeds up to 205 mph, which made Violet the third strongest tropical cyclone in terms of 1 minute sustained winds, Just behind Typhoon Nancy in the same year and Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Meteorological history Violet was first observed as a small circulation to the southwest of Marcus Island. On October 2, the system had organized enough to warrant further investigation. After a few days of observation, a report of tropical storm force winds was relayed back to the JTWC and on October 4, it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Violet. Violet took an unusual track, moving in a southern direction after formation. This was due to its location west of a high-pressure system, which the storm struggled to move around. After completing a curve to the south of the ridge, Violet quickly intensified into a typhoon. The movement of the subtropical ridge to the east resulted in Violet turning abruptly to the northwest. Violet continued to intensify and soon reached its peak intensity, on October 7, with sustained winds of and