The 1952 season

Super Typhoon Olive (1952)

Super Typhoon Olive reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between September 13, 1952 and September 21, 1952, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb. It did $15 million of damage.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Olive, 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
September 13, 1952 to September 21, 1952
Peak strength
Category 5, 160 kt (184 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 585 km (364 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
26.9
Fastest the center moved
43 kt (49 mph)
Identifier
WP131952

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

Wikidata

0 deaths$15 million

A community-maintained total, usually direct and indirect deaths together and damage worldwide. Joined to this storm by its IBTrACS serial, not by name.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 13, 12:0018.0N 178.0E30 ktTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0018.2N 177.1E30 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0018.2N 176.2E35 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0018.2N 175.1E35 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0018.3N 174.0E40 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 18:0018.3N 173.0E45 ktTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0018.7N 171.8E45 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 06:0018.9N 170.7E50 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 12:0019.2N 169.5E55 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 18:0019.4N 168.3E75 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 00:0019.7N 167.2E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 06:0019.9N 166.0E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0020.1N 164.9E120 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0020.8N 163.4E130 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0021.6N 161.9E140 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0022.7N 160.3E150 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0023.7N 158.9E150 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0024.6N 157.8E160 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0025.4N 156.9E160 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0026.7N 155.9E140 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0028.2N 155.3E120 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0030.3N 155.3E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0032.2N 156.5E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0034.1N 157.9E75 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0035.9N 160.1E65 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 18:0038.1N 163.1E55 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 00:0040.6N 168.1E50 kt970 mbMixed
Sep 20, 06:0042.5N 172.5E50 kt980 mbMixed
Sep 20, 12:0044.5N 174.0E45 kt980 mbMixed
Sep 20, 18:0045.8N 177.0E40 kt980 mbMixed
Sep 21, 00:0047.0N 178.5W50 kt985 mbMixed
Sep 21, 06:0047.5N 174.5W55 ktMixed
Sep 21, 12:0048.0N 172.0W50 ktTropical 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.