Super Typhoon Karen (1948)

Basin

Western Pacific

Dates

January 11, 1948 to January 19, 1948

Peak strength

Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)

Landfall

No; closest approach 905 km (562 mi)

Accumulated cyclone energy

20.5

Identifier

WP011948

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

• Typhoon LanaWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 180 kt
• Typhoon MabelWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 180 kt
• Tropical Storm OpheliaWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Storm40 kt
• Tropical Storm NadineWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Storm60 kt
• Typhoon PearlWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 290 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Depression
• Typhoon RoseWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 170 kt
• Typhoon BerthaWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 170 kt
• Tropical Storm ChrisWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Storm50 kt
• Tropical Storm DoloresWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Storm45 kt
• Tropical Storm FloWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Storm50 kt
• Typhoon GertrudeWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 285 kt
• Typhoon HazelWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 180 kt
• Typhoon JackieWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 180 kt
• Typhoon IoneWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 4120 kt
• Tropical Storm KitWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Storm60 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Depression
• Typhoon LibbyWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 4125 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Depression
• Typhoon MarthaWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 3100 kt
• Tropical Storm NormaWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Storm50 kt
• Tropical Storm OlgaWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Storm55 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm PatWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Storm60 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Depression
• Typhoon RitaWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 3100 kt
• Typhoon AgnesWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 295 kt
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Storm45 kt
• Typhoon BeverlyWestern Pacific · 1948Cat 180 kt
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1948Tropical Storm40 kt

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.