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Typhoons in the Philippine Islands, 1566-1900
Ricardo García-Herrera*, Pedro Ribera +, Emiliano Hernández * and Luis
Gimeno **
* Dto Física de la Tierra II, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad
Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
+ Dto de Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Carretera de
Utrera, km 1, 41013 Sevilla, Spain.
** Dto de Física, Universidad de Vigo. Facultad de Ciencias de Ourense. As
Lagoas s/n. 32004. Ourense. Spain
Abstract
Within the last years the population and the value of the properties in Tropical
Cyclone (TC) prone areas have increased dramatically. This has caused more
attention to be placed on the characterization of TC climatologies and the
identification of the role that factors, such as the main teleconnection patterns,
may play in TC variability. Due to the involved timescales, the instrumental
records have demonstrated too short to provide a complete picture. Thus,
documentary and other paleoclimatological techniques have been used to
reconstruct TC occurrence. This has been mostly made in the Atlantic Basin,
while in the Pacific basin less attempts have been made. The aim of this paper
is to provide a high-resolution chronology of typhoons and intense storms
occurring in the Philippines Islands and their vicinity for the period 1566-1900.
2
The original work was made by the Spanish Jesuit, Miguel Selga, at the
beginning of the 20
th
century. The sources, reliability and completeness of the
chronology are examined critically. A total of 652 events are included, of them
533 are reported as typhoons, the rest being considered as tropical storms. For
each of them the landfalling location and the track (when sufficient information
is available) have been drawn. This chronology should be considered as an
indispensable step towards the determination of a final and complete typhoon
record over the Western Pacific Basin.
Introduction
In recent years, social interest in tropical cyclones has grown steadily. This has
been due to a number of factors, above all being changes occurred in the
tropical cyclones (TC) prone areas. Greater urbanization has lead to increasing
and older populations and, dramatically increasing value of properties (Díaz and
Pulwarty, 1997), specially concentrated in the Mexican Gulf and Western Pacific
areas.
This social awareness has been accomplished by an increase in the scientific
interest, due to the evidences that big scale oscillations, such as El Niño-
Southern Oscillation (ENSO; Diaz and Markgraff, 2000), QuasiBiennial
Oscillation (QBO; Baldwin et al., 2001), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO; Hurrell,
1995), or the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO; Madden and Julian, 1994) may
play a fundamental role in TC occurrence. However, ENSO impact is not
uniform in the different tropical basins; a warm ENSO episode can lead to
increased frequency, as in the South Pacific and in the North Pacific between
140ºW and 160ºE, while in the North Atlantic, the Australian region and the
3
Northwest Pacific west of 160ºE, it is associated to lower frequencies (Landsea,
2000). An east phase QBO seems to reduce the activity in the Atlantic basin,
but the mechanism is not completely clear (Gray 1984). The NAO does not
seem to impact the frequency, but the trajectories of the Atlantic hurricanes
(Elsner et al, 2000). The role of the MJO seems to be relevant in the Pacific
basin, with an active MJO phase associated to more frequent TC (Sobel and
Maloney, 2000). Additionally, tropical cyclones exhibit great variability, with
significant millennial, multidecadal and interannual scales (Liu and Fern 2000a,
Landsea 1996, Elsner and Bossak, 2001).
Since there is a relatively short record of hurricane incidence when compared
with the involved timescales, a growing interest in reconstructing the behavior of
storms and hurricanes for pre-instrumental and even prehistorical times has
risen in the recent years, up to the point that a new discipline, called
paleotempestology is growing.
Previous works have tried to reconstruct hurricanes in the past., mostly
from documentary sources. In the Atlantic Basin the first records come from the
earliest years of the Spanish Colonies. There seems to be little doubt that
Christopher Columbus experienced at least two hurricanes, one in 1495 and the
other in 1502 (Millás 1968). The Spanish were quickly aware of the impact of
hurricanes in the Caribbean area and promptly adopted the term huracán from
the Carib language to describe the phenomenon. In the sixteenth century for
example Fernandez de Oviedo wrote: ‘Huracán, in the language of this island,
is precisely defined as a very excessive storm or tempest but being in reality
nothing more than a very great wind with heavy and intense rainfall. (AGI Indif.
4
Gral. 108 -BIB. L.A. Siglo XVI – 7-
1
). Since then countless documents have
been produced containing information on hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin. The
studies by Poey (1862), Tannehill (1940), Ludlum (1963), Dunn and Miller
(1964), Millás (1968), Salivia (1950), Neumann et al (1993), Rappaport and
Fernández-Partagás (1997) and Fernández-Partagás and Díaz (1996) provide
a comprehensive view of the information that can be obtained from such
sources.
In the other basins less work has been done. However, Chinese
documentary sources can provide the longest historical records of tropical
cyclones, as has been recently shown by Chan and Shi (2000) and Liu et al
(2001). Using these sources, they have been able to elaborate a 1000 years
high resolution typhoon chronology for the province of Guandong. German
historical records have also been used to reconstruct topical cyclones in the
Marshall Islands, (Spennemann and Marschner, 1994), but they only trace back
until 1840.
Other techniques have also been applied to reconstruct tropical cyclones,
such as the use of sedimentary records (Liu and Fearn, 1993, 2000b; Donnelly
2001) or dendrochronology (Doyle and Gorham, 1996). These may have
coarser resolution than the historical sources, but may provide records as far
back as 5000y B.P.
This paper analyses the typhoon chronology of the Philippines
elaborated in 1935 by the Spanish Jesuit Miguel Selga (1935). The next section
1
AGI Indif. Gral. 108 -BIB. L.A. Siglo XVI stands for a manuscript kept at the Archivo
5
provides a brief account of Selga and the Jesuits meteorological activities in the
Philippines. Then, the chronology is described; the sources are discussed in
section 4, the paper ends with the discussion.
Miguel Selga
Miguel Selga (1879-1956) was a Spanish Jesuit who had studied astronomy at
Harvard University and became the last Spanish director of the Manila
Observatory during the period 1926-1946 (Udías, 2003). The Jesuits had
settled in the Philippines during the last decades of the 16
th
century and played
a very active role as missionaries. This was accompanied by a high interest in
the natural history of the islands. The intense tropical storms soon attracted
their interest due to the damages that impacted their lives and properties. Thus,
as early as in 1668, the Jesuit Fr. F. I. Alzina wrote, after more than 30 years of
experience in the Islands, the Natural History of the Visayas Islands (AMN
Ms478)
2
. There he provides a vivid description of more than 6 pages of
baguíos (the native word for typhoons). ‘..The indians of this area call Baguio to
this type of hurricane, which in other part and in the East Indies are called
typhoons. And all this means a very strong tempest. There use to be in these
islands so numerous and so strong that neither Virgilio in his Eneid, nor Ovidius
in his Ponto, nor any other poet that I have read reaches by one thousand miles
to describe their rigors or their strength. We see them very often and we suffer
General de Indias (AGI) with signature Indif. Gral. 108 -BIB. L.A. Siglo XVI.
2
AMN Ms478 stands for a manuscript kept at the Archivo del Muso Naval (Madrid) with
signature Ms478
6
so much, that even after experiencing them it seem impossible to believe. To
say it briefly, when one of those baguíos runs (usually one of two every year),
neither the trees are safe in the center of the mountains, nor the animals in the
caves, nor the men in their houses, nor the beasts in their middens, nor even
the worms in their dens...’. The complete text provides a detailed description not
only of the impacts of the storms, but also of the type of associated winds.
This interest in meteorology, and the absence of other scientific institutions,
made the Jesuits the pioneer meteorologists in the Philippines and other places
of the Far East and Latin America (Udías, 1996). This work continued until
1773, when the Company was suppressed, but was resumed in 1814 when it
was restored. In fact the Jesuits founded the Manila observatory in 1865 and by
1900 they had developed a network of 72 secondary meteorological stations
which grew continuously until World War II, when the Manila observatory was
destroyed. In 1946, when the Philippine Weather Bureau was established the
Jesuit observatory ceased its meteorological activity (Udías, 2003). The
location of different Jesuit observatories in tropical area (Manila, Havana,
Shanghai, mostly) made that different members of the Company such as B.
Viñes, J. Algué and C.E. Deppermann produced some of the first and more
interesting studies on tropical storms (Udias, 1996). The chronology presented
in this paper is part of this tradition of rigorous scientific work made by the
Jesuits.
The chronology
The typhoons chronology elaborated by Selga was originally published in 1935
by the Philippine Weather Bureau, with the title Catalogue of typhoons 1348-
7
1934 as an addenda of the Charts of Remarkable typhoons in the Philippines
1902-1934. It has not been fully analyzed up to now (Bankoff, 2003). This
paper analyses its part C, described by the author as ‘.. an abridged
enumeration of the storms and typhoons as described by old chroniclers or
described by contemporary documents’. It really covers the period 1566-1900,
because there is only one reference to a typhoon prior to this date. The
information of this early typhoon, dated in 1348 comes from the diary of the
classical Arab traveler, Ibn Batuta, and it can be considered anecdotal. The
catalogue is structured monthly, providing for every month a list of typhoons,
ordered chronologically and with a report, which usually includes the dates of
occurrence and the landfalling point or the affected area. In some occasions the
source where the information was obtained is also given. A total of 652 events
are included, of them 533 are reported as typhoons. For the rest the term storm
or depression is mostly used. In 606 cases (93% of the total), the identification
includes complete dating (day, month and year), in the rest month and year are
provided. Thus, it is a high resolution chronology. As a previous step, a
database with the complete chronology has been built. It contains for every
reported typhoon/storm information on date and landfalling location. The textual
complete description is also included. It can be freely obtained at
http://www.ucm.es/info/tropical.
The nature of these reports varies considerably, depending on the date and the
amount of available information. Thus, very succinct reports can be found, as
that corresponding to the typhoon on November 1-3, 1893: ‘A typhoon
appeared to the SE of Manila and partially filled up, entering the Archipelago,
continuing westward as a depression’. On the other hand there are very vivid
8
and detailed reports, such as that from November 1, 1742: ‘In a manuscript
dated 1743 and written in Manila, we read the following account: "On All Saints'
Day of the last year, 1742, we experienced such a storm, as never before had
been seen in Manila. It caused the greatest destruction to the churches and
houses of the Society of Jesus. In our church, some arches were damaged. The
big window of the choir with its frame was forced in; the rain rushed in and the
church was so full of water, that mass could not be said on some of the altars
the next day. The corridors of many houses were destroyed, and in a word,
there is scarcely a roof in Manila that is not damaged’. The analysis of these
reports allows to infer the intensity of the event only in these very detailed
reports, but not in a general way. So, in many cases one needs to trust Selga
judgment. In some cases, the report is accompanied by instrumental
observations.
Table 1 shows all the cases when instrumental observations are provided. It
can be seen that the pressure readings vary between 749.3 mm Hg (on board
of the Scales by Castle on Sept 1809) and 631.7 mm Hg (in Koshun, Formosa
on June 1898). Figure 1 shows their distribution according to the Saffir-Simpson
Scale. Its interpretation must be cautious; firstly, because this scale is of limited
use in the Western Pacific basin (Simpson and Riehl,1981), and secondly,
because the reported values do not correspond to the minimum associated to
every particular TC, but to the available measurements in each case. However,
it can be seen that all are contained in the range of tropical storms and
hurricanes and can help in the process of assessing the intensity of every
particular TC.
9
Of the total 533 typhoons included in this chronology, the distribution is as
follows: 4 correspond to the 16
th
century, 23 to the 17
th
, 35 to the 18
th
, 40 to the
first half of the 19
th
and 431 to the second half of the 19
th
. Figure 2 shows the
annual frequency of the typhoons and typhoons+storms for the periods 1566-
1715 (fig 2a), 1716-1865 (Fig 2b) and 1866-1900 (2c). Superimposed is the
average annual frequency of typhoons and tropical storms landfalling in the
Philippines (continuous line). This value has been computed for the 1945-2000
period from the UNISYS hurricanes database
(http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/w_pacific). The annual frequency of
typhoons and storms shows a small range of variability until 1865, with an
average frequency of 0.38 (0.44 for T+S; 0.31 for Philippines landfallings), as
compared with an average of 4.68 for the instrumental period. Since the 1860s,
the figure shows a dramatic increase. This value is higher than the landfalling
average, but lower than the total for the Western Pacific (28.07). Thus, for the
period prior to 1865, the chronology seems to underestimate the real frequency
of landfalling typhoons in the Islands.
The main explanation for this change seems to be the formal establishment of
the Manila Observatory in 1865. This produced an increase and standardization
of the observations, the development of a network of secondary observations
covering most of the Philippines territory and the interchange of information with
other observatories of the area such as Zikawei (near Shanghai and also run by
the Jesuits), Hong Kong, or Japan. This can be corroborated in the chronology,
as an increase during this period of the references to locations out of the
Philippines (see figure 5). Some examples help to demonstrate it: thus the
typhoon on October 12-17 1889, which is referred as : ‘A typhoon appeared in
10
the China Sea NW of Luzon, moved to WNW and entered the continent NE of
Hong Kong’. Similarly, for September, 9-16, 1891, it is quoted as: ‘Appearing
NE of Luzon, the typhoon, moving in a WNW direction, approached S Formosa
and recurved to the NE; then it followed the coast of Japan bordering the Japan
Sea and finally crossed Hokkaido to the ENE’.
Table 1 also illustrates the effective working of the meteorological network in the
Philippines and interchange with other observatories. Thus, of a total of 82
pressure readings, 7 come from Manila, 23 from the rest of the Islands, 29 from
other locations outside the Islands, and, remarkably, 21 from different ships
while traveling in the area.
Thus, during the 1865-1900 period, the record should be considered as
indicative of the total typhoon incidence in the W-P basin. In fact, if the
Philippine landfalling typhoons are extracted from the chronology, the average
value is 5.44, which is comparable to the instrumental period.
To evaluate the predominant time scales involved in these series, a wavelet
analysis has been performed according to the methodology described by
Torrence and Combo (1998). Only the landfalling instrumental series (fig 3a)
and the series corresponding to the period 1566-1864 (figure 3b) show
significant values. In the first case the significant periodicities are in the 3, 8 and
10-12 years bands, while in the second, the 8-12 and 16 years are the most
significant. In both cases, it can be seen that they are limited to certain periods
(1965-1975) during the modern records and 1620-1640 and 1740-1770 for the
historical record), with most of the series free of any significant periodicity.
11
The monthly distribution has also been computed for the three series. Figure 4
shows the relative frequencies for the 1566-1864 Selga (S1), 1865-1901 (S2),
the Unisys Philippine landfalling 1945-2000 (UP). In order to permit a direct
comparison among the three distributions, they have been normalized by
dividing the number of typhoons in a given month by the total number of
typhoons during the whole period. It can be seen that all of them show a
minimum incidence in February, however, they peak at different months:
September and October (S1), September (S2) and August (UP). The
approximate trajectories of the typhoons for different subperiods in the different
months is shown in figure 5. February is the month with less typhoons, while
August, September and October are characterized by the highest typhoon
occurrence. It is also evident the expansion of the observatories reporting
typhoons to Manila since 1865, and specially from the mid 1880s. A chi-square
test shows that the monthly relative frequency distribution does doe not differ in
any of the three series (S1, S2, UP) at p<0.01.
Sources of the chronology
It is interesting to analyze the sources used by Selga when constructing his
Chronology. Unfortunately, he does not cite his sources in an identifiable way,
rather, he quotes: (p. 3) ‘Part C gives an abridged enumeration of the storms
and typhoons as described by old chroniclers or reported in contemporary
documents. Although the catalogue of historical typhoons represents many
hours of painstaking search in libraries and reading of books in various
12
languages, no claim is made that the catalogue is complete or altogether free
from inaccuracies; additions and corrections will be welcome’.
However, in 90 records a source is explicitly cited. They have been included in
table 2. It can be seen that in 59 cases a primary sources is cited, while in the
rest a secondary one has been used. When the nature of the documents is
considered, it can be seen that 32 of them are related with ship incidences,
mostly letters of the Governors referred to the Manila Galleon, the main
connection of the Philippines with Mexico, and which had an enormous
importance for the life of the colony (Schutz, 1939). Another 20 references
come from church documents, mostly Jesuits letters. The rest is a
miscellaneous of administrative documents.
Of the secondary sources, the most used are the Piddington maps and the
History of the Philippines by Rev. Father Pedro Murillo. The Piddington maps
are included in a classic book titled The sailors handbook for the law of storms
and written by Henry Piddington (1876). He was the first to use the term
"cyclone" to refer to the tropical weather phenomenon we now call hurricanes or
typhoons. He was the president of the Marine Courts at Calcutta in the mid-19th
century. The History of Philippines (Murillo, 1749) was written by a Jesuits and
provides a comprehensive account of the Jesuits activities in the Archipelago
during the period 1616-1716.
It is interesting to note that only in 3 cases the documentary evidences
correspond to the period after 1850, which reinforces the idea that during the
last period, the data come mostly from direct observations, either in the
13
Philippines or in the vicinities. The descriptions become more systematic and
start to include instrumental values, mostly barometer readings.
The assessment of the accuracy of the reports is not easy to make. However,
we have some proof that it was made with special care. In a previous work
(García et al 2001), original records of the Manila Galleon kept in Spanish
archives were used to infer changes in the circulation on the Pacific during the
17
th
and 18
th
centuries. The references to the Galleon included in this
chronology have been checked against the documents used in García et al
2001. It has been found that 8 of them (marked with * in the table) were
referenced correctly, 2 (marked with ** in the table) had not been found in the
previous work and one (marked with *** in the table) showed a dating problem
in Selga. He dates this typhoon as occurring in 1603, while the documents kept
in the Archivo de Indias in Spain (refs AGI Mex 25, N62) show that it really
happened in 1602. So, the references seem reasonably accurate.
The British sources have also been checked. Thus, we have examined the
original reports of the Cygnet, Antelope and Centurion, cited in table 2. All of
them use the term storm which was only used for very severe wind conditions.
The Centurion report also includes the term hard gales, which can be
assimilated to Beaufort Force 10. In the case of the Cygnet, they describe the
ship sailing under bare poles (with no sails at all), which was only done at
Beaufort force 10 or higher. Thus, all the three reports are compatible with
typhoon strength winds.
Since 1850 the reliability seems to increase, since they are based on direct
observations from the main observatory, the secondary Philippine network and
14
the connected observatories, as has been pointed out when referring the
previous table. Additional references can also be traced in the Spanish
Archives. Thus, the typhoon which occurred in January 17-26
th
1895, and
according to Selga destroyed the island of Yap, is described in a document of
almost 400 pages in the Archivo Central de la Marina (ACM 3618, 79) in the
Judicial Causes section. This document includes all the administrative actions
and procedures taken by the Spanish military courts in affairs related to the
damages produced by this typhoon.
Discussion
Selga Chronology is an invaluable starting point to obtain a complete typhoon
chronology in the Pacific. It provides high resolution and reliable information on
a total of 652 typhoons and tropical storms in the Western Pacific area. It can
not be considered a complete chronology for the whole period, but the results of
this paper suggest that since 1865, it provides a rather complete picture of the
landfalling occurrences in the Philippines.
The results for the previous sections suggest that, though incomplete, the
series provides accurate information and exhibit similar variability to present day
climatology, as evidenced in the wavelet analysis and the monthly distribution.
The series shows two main periods with no records of typhoons: 1568-1589
and 1659-1686. There is not enough information to properly evaluate if they
correspond to a period of low typhoons incidence, or if they just reflect the lack
of appropriate records. However, the second interval partly coincides with a
period of anomaly in the location of the Pacific monsoon trough (García et al
15
2001), being displaced southward of its climatological location. Previous studies
(Harr and Elsberry 1995) suggest that weak monsoon trough conditions are
associated with decreased tropical cyclone activity in the Western North Pacific
basin. Thus, the detected anomaly in this interval should be compatible with a
lower than average TC frequency. However, this is a mere suggestion, since
the series cannot be considered as complete.
The second part of the series (1865) shows values well above the present-day
climatological mean, as can be seen in figure 2c. So, we think that it should be
considered as an ‘exhaustive’ catalogue of intense storms, rather than
typhoons. It also contains a significant number of typhoons affecting the whole
Western Pacific Basin.
The obtention of a complete chronology in the Western pacific should require a
multidisciplinary approach, combining different techniques. For the historical
period an intensive search of the available documentary sources should be
required. Previous works have identified archives with relevant sources, as is
the case for the Chinese coast (Liu et al., 2001). In Spain a number of them
have been identified, apart for the local archives in the Philippines, a number of
Spanish Archives contain abundant information on the Spanish Colonial
Administration in the Islands. The most relevant are: Archivo General de Indias,
Archivo del Museo Naval, Archivo Central de la Marina, and Archivo Histórico
Nacional. The combined use of these and additional sources will allow to
continue the pioneering work made by Selga.
16
Acknowledgements: This paper was partially supported by the Risk Prediction
Initiative, under grant RPI02-2-009. The authors wish thank F. Koek for
providing a copy of the original Selga paper. A. Udías discussed enthusiastically
part of the manuscript and provided material to understand the Jesuits role in
the meteorological observations in the Philippines. D. Wheeler and C.
Wilkinson, provided records of the English logbooks. Two anonymous reviewers
provided useful suggestions that improved the original manuscript.
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Historical Climatology Series 6-2.
Piddington, H. 1876. The sailors handbook for the law of storms. London
Poey, A. 1862. Table chronologique de quatre cents cyclones. Paris. 66 pp
Rappaport, E.N. and Fernández-Partagas, J. 1997. History of the Deadliest
Atlantic Tropical Cyclones since the Discovery of the New World in
Hurricanes: In H.F. Díaz and R.S. Pulwarty eds. Climate and
Socioeconomic Impacts. Berlin: Springer.
20
Salivia L.A. (1950) Historia de los temporales de Puerto Rico (1508-1949). S.
Juan, pp. 146
Selga M. 1935. Charts of Remarkable Typhoons in the Philippines 1902-1934.
Catalogue of Typhoons 1348-1934. Manila Weather Bureau. Manila, 55
pp.
Simpson, R.H. and H. Riehl (1981): The Hurricane and Its Impact.
Louisiana State Univ. Press, Baton Rouge
398 pp.
Schutz, W.L. 1939. The Manila Galleon. E.P. Dutton & Company, New York,
453 pp.
Sobel A. H., and E.D. Maloney. 2000. Effect of ENSO and the MJO on Western
North Pacific Topical Cyclones. Geophysical Research Letters, 27, 1739-
1742.
Spennemann D.H.R. and I.C. Marschner. 1994. Stormy years: on the
association between the El Niño/Southern Oscillation phenomenon and the
occurrence of typhoons in the Marshall Islands. Report to the Federal
Emergency Management Agency. Region IX, San Francisco- Albury, NSW.:
The Jonstone Centre of Parks, Recreation and Heritage, Charles Sturt
University.
Tannehill, I.R. 1940. Hurricanes: Their Nature and History. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press.
Torrence C. and Compo, G.P. 1998. A practical guide to wavelet analysis. Bull.
Amer. Meteor. Soc., 79(1), 62-78.
21
Udías A. 1996. Jesuits’ Contribution to Meteorology. Bull. Am. Met. Soc., 77,
2307-2315.
Udías A., 2003. Searching the Heavens and the Earth. The History of Jesuit
Observatories. Astrophysics and Space library. Kluwert Academic
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22
Figure captions.
Figure 1: Distribution of the typhoons intensity according to the Saffir-Simpson
Scale for those typhoons with instrumental measurements available.
Figure 2: The annual frequency of the typhoons for the periods 1566-1715 (A),
1716-1865 (B) and 1866-1900 (C). Superimposed the average annual
frequency of typhoons landfalling in the Philippines during the instrumental
period (dotted line).
Figure 3: Wavelet power spectra (Morlet wavelet with a characteristic frequency
of 6) of the typhoons landfallings in the Philippines for (a) 1945-2001 and (b)
1564-1864. Ordinates indicate the Fourier period (years). Bottom axis is time
(years). Shaded contours are at normalized variances of 0.5,1,2,5 and 10.
The black contour encloses regions of greater than 90% confidence level for
a white-noise process. Cross-hatched areas are contaminated by 0-padding
of the time series at its extremes (reduced variance) and should be
cautiously interpreted.
Figure 4: Normalized monthly typhoons landfalling in the Philippines for 1564-
1864, 1865-1900 and 1945-2000 (unisys).
Figure 5: Typhoons trajectories for 1564-1864 (a), 1865-1882 (b) and 1883-
1900 (c).
23
Table captions:
Table 1: Instrumental observations of the Selga Chronology (year, month,
pressure and location).
Table 2: Reported sources of the Selga chronology (day, month, year and
source).
24
TABLE 1
YEAR MONTH Pressure (mm
Hg)
LOCATION
1797 June 736.0 Macao?
1804 Oct 1 680 Russian corvettes
Nadicjada and Neva
1809 Sept 749.30 Logbook of Scalesby Castle
(Piddington)
1810 Sept 741.68 on board of Winchelsea
(Piddington)
1812 Sept 740.41 On board of Werford
(Piddington)
1838 Dec 18-19 740 Camarines or Albay
1848 Dec 13-14 748.79 Manila
1858 Aug 18-19 744.5 On board of Novara
1862 June 726.44 Macao
1865 Nov 7-12 742.64 Manila
1865 Dec 15-17 747.32 Manila
1866 April 745.62 Manila
25
1867 Sept 20-26 737.30 Manila
1868 Nov 20-24 747.47
740.00
Manila
Bayomborg
1870 Nov 3 714.00
743.52
Tuguegarao
Albay
1871 June 746 Naga
1871 Sept 29 711 Naga
1873 Sept 27 740.41 Marianas
1873 Oct 28 716 Masbate
1874 Sept 3-4 730.9 Port of Vigan
1874 Sept 21-22 724 Port of Vigan
1874 Sept 28 739 Sto.Domingo Basco
1875 Oct 24-31 744.21 Brig Progreso
Manila Bay
1879 Nov 19-21 713.00 E.Mindoro
1880 Oct 18-22 727.60 Manila Bay
1881 May 741 Steamship Elguin
26
1881 Aug 9-14 723.0 On board steamer Friederic
29.6ºN,128ºE
1881 Aug 19-20 742.0
746.0
Baler
1881 Aug 24-28 747 Zikawei
1881 Sept 5-8 736.59 Tainanfu
Formosa
1881 Sept 27 - Oct 6 717.50 Steamer Fleurscastle
1881 Oct 10-14 718.9 Steamship Oaklands, near
Pratas
1882 Sept 27 - Oct 6 728.0 Steamer Tanais
1882 Oct 18-22 See 1880
1882 Oct 23-27 726.43 Bark Caridad
1883 April 732.10 Taganaan
1883 Oct 28-31 747.8 Manila
1885 July 723.6 Steamship
1885 Aug 18-26 724.5 Ocksan
1886 Sept 5-9 716.0 Steamer Killarnay at
21ºN,128ºE
27
21ºN,128ºE
1886 Oct 14-18 731.51 Steamship Proponti
1887 May 721.00 Brig Alic Bowe
1887 July 728.8 Nagasaki
1887 Sept 5-9 720 Sea at 20.5ºN and 119ºE
1890 Sept 28 - Oct 3 738.05 Region of Albay
1890 Nov 7-13 742.85
741.9
Tabaco
Streamship Mount Hebron
1891 Sept 19-25 745.8 Aparri
1891 Oct 27-28 736.0 Guam
1893 Sept 10-12 746.5
717.28
Aparri
South Cape, Formosa
1893 Sept 28 – Oct 3 705.0 Cabragan Viejo and others
1894 Aug 1-12 728.2
743.7
Hamamatsu Japon?
Nemuro?
1894 Sept 15-18 736.8 S.Isidro
1894 Sept 16-25 742.4 Macao
28
1894 Sept 30 – Oct 6 740.2 S.Fdo Union
1894 Nov 8-11 730.3 Aparri
1895 January 729.4 Yap
1895 July 713.0 Nagasaki
1895 Aug 28-Sep 9 717.7 Sep 7
th
Kagoshima
1895 Sept 13-19 731.0 Takow, Formosa
1895 Oct28 – Nov 2 733.3 Tuguegarao
1895 Nov 18-22 730.6 Guam
1896 July 733.0 Hongkong
1896 Sept 28 – Oct 7 726.4 Steamer Strathllam 23ºN
and 112ºE
1896 Oct 19-20 742.65 Aparri
1897 Sept 9-18 729.5 Haichow?
1897 Oct 7-16 710.00 Guiam, Samar
1898 28May- 5 june 722.9
741.6
631.7
Laoang (N Samar)
Albay
Koshun (Formosa)
29
1898 July 742 Hainan
1898 Aug 13-16 725.6 Kagoshima
1898 Oct 1-3 723.7 Transport Siam, near NE
Luzon
1899 July 2-10 727.9
717.2
728.5
Naha
Oshima
Nagasaki
1899 July 15-26 735.8
736.6
739.0
733.0
Naha
Shangai
Tokio
Choshi
1899 July 31-Aug 6 725.1 Taichu Formosa
1899 Aug 15-22 715.9 Koshum
1899 Oct 3-8 721.4
715.8
Steamship Columbia
Steamship Ketat
30
Table 2
Day
Month
Year
Source
1 May 1601
Report of the galleon Santo Tomás *
24 May 1621
Report of the frigate Buen Jesús
29 May 1654
Report of the Galleon *
May 1709
Jesuit report?
19 May 1753
Report of the galleon Nª Sª de Guadalupe or Mexicana **
11 July 1603
Letter of the Governor on the Galleon ***
15 July 1659
Jesuit report
3 July 1686
Report of the English pirate William Dampier
3 July 1694
History of the Philippines by Rev. Father Pedro Murillo
10 July 1704
History of the Philippines by Rev. Father Pedro Murillo
July 1717
Jesuit report
23 July 1726
Report of the Galleon *
July 1780
Piddington map and letter of Mr. Webb, captain of an
English ship
July 1835
Piddington map
31
July 1841
Piddington map
1 July 1846
Jesuit report
July 1852
Jesuit report
15 Augus
t
1568
Report from the fleet of Felipe Salcedo
21 Augus
t
1602
Report of the Galleon *
20 Augus
t
1606
Report of unknown ship towards Japan
2 Augus
t
1620
Report of the Galleon S. Nicolás *
Augus
t
1629
Governor report on the Galleon *
5 Augus
t
1639
Report of the Galleon **
23 Augus
t
1708
Report from a Portuguese ship
22 Augus
t
1720
Report Jesuit letter
32
10 Augus
t
1783
Report of the packet Antelope of the East India Company
Augus
t
1793
Report of the Recolect Fathers
Augus
t
1832
Piddington map
11 Augus
t
1848
Report of the French ship La Bayonnaise
18 Augus
t
1898
Report of the Austrian frigate Novara
18 Sept. 1596
Letter of Gov. Tello on the loss of the Galleon S. Felipe
20 Sept. 1638
Loss of the Galeon Nª Sª de la Concepción, referred in the
Sucesos en Filipinas *
26 Sept. 1687
Report of the English pirate Dampier on board of the
Cygnet of London
Sept. 1707
History of the Philippines by Rev. Father Pedro Murillo
23 Sept. 1742
Report of Lord Anson’s Centurion
30 Sept. 1762
Report of Admiral Cornish on board of SouthSea Castle
27 Sept. 1779
Sesion de Definitorio de la Corporación Recoletana
33
15 Sept. 1802
Shipwreck of the Nautilus of Calcuta
Sept. 1803
Piddington map
Sept. 1809
Piddington map
Sept. 1810
Piddington map
Sept. 1812
Piddington map
Sept. 1819
Piddington map
Sept. 1820
Piddington map
Sept. 1826
Historical records of Lumban?
Sept. 1830
Chronicles of the time?
Sept. 1839
Historical records of Lumban?
Sept. 1842
Parochial archives of Las Piñas, Rizal province
1 Sept. 1848
Report of Vice-Admiral Julien de la Gabiere on board of
Bayonnaise
23 Sept. 1855
Report of educated person who had lived for many years
on the Marianas, published on 1870?
Oct. 1566
Logbook of S. Jerónimo
3 Oct. 1596
Report of the Galleon S. Felipe
4 Oct. 1598
Letter of Fr. Diego Abuarte O.P. on a private expedition to
China
34
China
27 Oct. 1599
Report of historian Fr. Chirino S.J.
5 Oct. 1649
Shipwreck of the Galleon Nª Sª de la Encarnación *
18 Oct. 1711
History of the Philippines by Rev. Father Pedro Murillo
23 Oct. 1766
French translation made by the astronomer Le Gentil of a
letter of the governor of the province of Albay to the Fiscal
in Manila
23 Oct. 1767
Le Gentil report while at Manila
2 Oct. 1795
Letter of the Governor-General to the Duke of Alcudia
Oct. 1797
Report of the shipwreck of the Galleon S. Andrés
, made by
the historians José Montero y Vidal and Zúñiga
Oct. 1801
Report in the parochial archives of Bacolod, Occidental
Negros
Oct. 1804
Report of the Russian admiral Krusenstern on board of the
corvettes Nadicjada and Neva
Oct. 1819
Piddington map
Oct. 1821
Piddington map
17 Oct. 1821
Report of the corvette Fidelidad
26 Oct. 1827
Report of the Governor-General
35
16 Oct. 1829
Report of the Regente, ship of the East India Company
Oct. 1832
Piddington map
Oct. 1833
Piddington map
28 Oct. 1838
Report of the Governor of Marianas to the Governor of
Philippines
28 Oct. 1843
Letter of the Rector of the Royal seminary of S. Carlos to
the Archbishop of Manila
7 Oct. 1844
Letter of the Governor of Philippines
Nov. 1608
Edifying Letters of the Jesuits Missionaries
1 Nov. 1610
Annual Litterae of the Province of Philippines by Fr.
Gregorio López
10 Nov. 1638
Sucesos de Filipinas, probably written by Juan López S.J.
25 Nov. 1659
History of the Philippines by Rev. Father Pedro Murillo
1 Nov. 1742
Manuscript dated 1743 and written in Manila
Nov. 1780
Biography of Fr. Juan Huy de los Santos, a chinese
dominican
1 Nov. 1824
Letter of the Governor of Philippines
Nov. 1841
Piddington map
36
3 Nov. 1845
Books of the parochial archives of Imus, Cavite
8 Nov. 1858
A suit instituted in the court of Manila
11 Dec. 1734
A manuscript which narrates the principal events that took
place in Balayan, Batangas
4 Dec. 1748
History of the Philippines by Rev. Father Pedro Murillo
Dec. 1752
Certificate of death from the parochial books of Sariaya
3 Dec. 1754
Edifying letters
8 Dec. 1766
Le Gentil report
18 Dec. 1833
Letter of the Governor-General
13 Dec. 1838
Letter of the Governor-General
Dec. 1865
Letter of the Governor of Burias
37
Figure - 1
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
1 2 3 4 5
Type of Hurricane
Frequency
38
Figure - 2
39
Figure – 3
40
Figure – 4
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1566-1864
1865-1900
unisys
41
Figure – 5
A
B
42
C
