The 1952 season

Super Typhoon Della (1952)

Super Typhoon Della reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between November 20, 1952 and November 27, 1952, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Della, 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 20, 1952 to November 27, 1952
Peak strength
Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)
Lowest pressure
980 mb (28.94 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
18.8
Identifier
WP241952

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 20, 12:006.7N 144.4E1004 mbMixed
Nov 20, 18:007.5N 142.3E1000 mbMixed
Nov 21, 00:007.9N 140.1E1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 06:008.3N 137.7E1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 12:008.3N 135.7E1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 18:008.4N 133.2E1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 00:008.8N 131.4E1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 06:0012.1N 131.3E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 12:0012.9N 130.0E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 18:0013.4N 128.9E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 00:0014.0N 127.8E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 06:0014.1N 126.6E75 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 12:0014.0N 125.8E90 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 18:0014.0N 124.8E100 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 00:0014.4N 124.0E100 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 06:0015.3N 124.0E100 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 12:0016.0N 123.5E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 18:0016.5N 122.9E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 00:0017.1N 122.2E100 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 06:0017.9N 121.7E125 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 12:0018.2N 121.2E150 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 18:0019.1N 120.9E150 kt982 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 00:0019.9N 120.5E130 kt982 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 06:0020.5N 120.0E110 kt982 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 12:0021.2N 119.6E90 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 18:0022.0N 119.3E75 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 00:0023.0N 119.2E55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 06:0023.8N 119.1E45 kt1004 mbMixed
Nov 27, 12:0024.7N 118.8E30 ktMixed
Nov 27, 18:0023.7N 121.3EDisturbance

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.