The 1952 season

Super Typhoon Agnes (1952)

Super Typhoon Agnes reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 28, 1952 and November 7, 1952, with a lowest pressure of 920 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Agnes, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1952 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
October 28, 1952 to November 7, 1952
Peak strength
Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)
Lowest pressure
920 mb (27.17 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 366 km (227 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
34.5
Identifier
WP211952

Deaths and damage

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.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 28, 12:008.6N 149.0E25 ktTropical storm
Oct 28, 18:009.1N 148.5E25 ktTropical storm
Oct 29, 00:009.7N 147.3E30 ktMixed
Oct 29, 06:0010.4N 146.9E30 ktTropical storm
Oct 29, 12:0011.5N 146.5E30 ktTropical storm
Oct 29, 18:0012.2N 146.0E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 00:0013.0N 145.3E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 06:0013.8N 144.6E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 12:0014.3N 143.8E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 18:0014.9N 143.0E35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 00:0015.2N 142.1E40 kt984 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 06:0015.6N 141.2E50 kt976 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 12:0016.0N 140.3E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 18:0016.4N 139.3E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 00:0016.8N 138.4E85 kt966 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 06:0017.5N 137.5E90 kt962 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 12:0018.0N 136.8E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 18:0018.9N 136.7E105 kt930 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 00:0018.4N 136.5E110 kt920 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 06:0018.6N 135.6E120 kt920 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 12:0019.4N 135.0E130 kt920 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 18:0020.0N 134.8E140 kt920 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 00:0020.8N 133.4E145 kt920 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 06:0021.8N 132.8E150 kt930 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 12:0022.3N 131.8E150 kt930 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 18:0022.9N 129.7E150 kt930 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 00:0023.6N 128.8E140 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 06:0024.6N 128.7E140 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 12:0025.3N 129.1E130 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 18:0025.7N 129.8E130 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 00:0026.2N 130.3E120 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 06:0027.6N 132.4E110 kt956 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 12:0029.1N 134.7E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 18:0030.4N 137.3E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 00:0031.3N 139.8E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 06:0032.6N 144.1E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 12:0033.7N 148.8E65 kt978 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 18:0034.5N 152.3E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 00:0035.0N 154.5E45 kt985 mbMixed
Nov 7, 06:0035.5N 157.0E40 kt988 mbMixed
Nov 7, 12:0036.5N 158.0E35 kt988 mbMixed
Nov 7, 18:0041.0N 187.0ETropical storm

Other Western Pacific storms of 1952

What this means

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.

Sources

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.