The 1952 season

Typhoon Karen (1952)

Typhoon Karen reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between August 10, 1952 and August 28, 1952, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Karen, 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
August 10, 1952 to August 28, 1952
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
14.2
Identifier
WP081952

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
Aug 10, 12:0013.7N 134.7E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 10, 18:0014.0N 133.9E30 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 00:0014.2N 133.2E30 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 06:0014.3N 132.3E30 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 12:0014.5N 131.5E35 ktTropical storm
Aug 11, 18:0014.7N 130.5E35 ktTropical storm
Aug 12, 00:0015.3N 129.8E40 kt1002 mbMixed
Aug 12, 06:0015.8N 129.5E45 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 12:0016.2N 129.3E50 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 18:0016.8N 129.2E60 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 00:0017.2N 129.2E65 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 06:0018.1N 129.1E70 kt988 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 12:0019.1N 129.1E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 18:0020.0N 129.2E70 kt983 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 00:0020.9N 129.2E70 kt981 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 06:0022.0N 128.9E70 kt977 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 12:0023.0N 128.5E70 kt974 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 18:0024.0N 128.0E70 kt971 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 00:0024.9N 127.5E70 kt969 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 06:0025.4N 127.3E70 kt964 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 12:0026.0N 127.0E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 18:0026.5N 126.7E80 kt958 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 00:0027.0N 126.5E80 kt956 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 06:0027.9N 126.1E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 12:0028.7N 125.8E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 18:0029.6N 125.5E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 17, 00:0030.4N 125.2E80 kt957 mbTropical storm
Aug 17, 06:0031.0N 125.0E75 kt959 mbTropical storm
Aug 17, 12:0031.9N 124.9E70 kt963 mbTropical storm
Aug 17, 18:0033.4N 125.0E65 kt969 mbTropical storm
Aug 18, 00:0034.6N 125.5E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 18, 06:0036.6N 127.0E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 18, 12:0038.1N 128.5E50 kt982 mbTropical storm
Aug 18, 18:0039.5N 131.2E50 kt984 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 00:0040.6N 134.4E45 kt986 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 06:0041.8N 138.0E40 kt988 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 12:0043.0N 139.0E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 18:0043.2N 142.0E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Aug 20, 00:0043.5N 145.2E35 kt994 mbMixed
Aug 20, 06:0043.8N 149.0E35 kt996 mbMixed
Aug 20, 12:0044.0N 153.5E30 kt998 mbMixed
Aug 20, 18:0045.6N 155.1E998 mbExtratropical
Aug 21, 00:0046.5N 157.4E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 21, 06:0047.4N 159.2E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 21, 12:0048.3N 160.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 21, 18:0050.5N 161.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 22, 00:0052.3N 163.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Aug 22, 06:0053.6N 166.8E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 22, 12:0054.1N 171.2E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 22, 18:0054.0N 173.2E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 23, 00:0054.1N 174.1E1002 mbExtratropical
Aug 23, 06:0054.3N 174.7E1002 mbExtratropical
Aug 23, 12:0054.8N 175.0E1006 mbExtratropical
Aug 23, 18:0055.2N 175.1E1006 mbExtratropical
Aug 24, 00:0055.5N 174.5E1006 mbExtratropical
Aug 24, 06:0055.1N 173.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Aug 24, 12:0054.6N 171.9E1004 mbExtratropical
Aug 24, 18:0053.9N 171.6E1004 mbExtratropical
Aug 25, 00:0053.1N 171.5E1004 mbExtratropical
Aug 25, 06:0052.1N 173.3E1004 mbExtratropical
Aug 25, 12:0053.2N 177.1E1002 mbExtratropical
Aug 25, 18:0053.2N 178.5E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 26, 00:0053.7N 182.3EExtratropical
Aug 26, 06:0054.8N 181.0EExtratropical
Aug 26, 12:0054.9N 180.2EExtratropical
Aug 26, 18:0055.0N 179.5E998 mbExtratropical
Aug 27, 00:0055.1N 178.9E998 mbExtratropical
Aug 27, 06:0055.7N 178.8E996 mbExtratropical
Aug 27, 12:0055.9N 179.2E996 mbExtratropical
Aug 27, 18:0056.1N 179.6E998 mbExtratropical
Aug 28, 00:0056.6N 180.5EExtratropical

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.