The 1952 season

Typhoon Bess (1952)

Typhoon Bess reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between November 6, 1952 and November 16, 1952, with a lowest pressure of 915 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Bess, 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
November 6, 1952 to November 16, 1952
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
915 mb (27.02 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 30 km (19 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
15.1
Identifier
WP221952

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
Nov 6, 18:008.1N 150.0E1008 mbMixed
Nov 7, 00:008.4N 149.3E1006 mbMixed
Nov 7, 06:008.9N 148.7E1006 mbMixed
Nov 7, 12:009.4N 148.1E1006 mbMixed
Nov 7, 18:0010.0N 147.5E1006 mbMixed
Nov 8, 00:0010.7N 147.2E1006 mbMixed
Nov 8, 06:0011.4N 147.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 12:0012.1N 146.9E1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 18:0012.9N 146.6E1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 00:0014.0N 145.3E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 06:0014.5N 144.0E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 12:0015.0N 142.7E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 18:0015.6N 140.9E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 00:0016.1N 138.8E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 06:0016.2N 137.2E55 kt978 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 12:0016.1N 135.7E60 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 18:0016.0N 134.0E65 kt920 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 00:0016.0N 132.3E70 kt915 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 06:0016.2N 130.4E75 kt915 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 12:0016.2N 128.8E80 kt920 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 18:0016.0N 127.3E80 kt920 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 00:0016.3N 125.8E85 kt920 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 06:0017.1N 124.5E85 kt925 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 12:0018.2N 123.7E90 kt935 mbTropical storm
Nov 12, 18:0019.3N 123.0E90 kt935 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 00:0020.1N 122.0E95 kt935 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 06:0020.8N 121.1E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 12:0021.5N 120.2E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 18:0023.5N 119.7E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 00:0025.0N 120.2E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 06:0026.1N 121.8E85 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 12:0027.0N 123.1E80 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 14, 18:0027.7N 124.6E75 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 00:0028.1N 126.3E70 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 06:0028.7N 127.9E55 kt1002 mbMixed
Nov 15, 12:0029.2N 129.7E40 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Nov 15, 18:0029.5N 133.0E40 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 00:0029.8N 134.0E35 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 06:0029.2N 136.0E30 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Nov 16, 12:0029.0N 137.0E25 kt1008 mbTropical 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.