The 1952 season

Typhoon Polly (1952)

Typhoon Polly reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between September 24, 1952 and October 6, 1952, with a lowest pressure of 975 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Polly, 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 24, 1952 to October 6, 1952
Peak strength
Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
Lowest pressure
975 mb (28.79 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 328 km (204 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.7
Identifier
WP151952

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
Sep 24, 12:0011.0N 157.0E1004 mbMixed
Sep 24, 18:0011.5N 155.7E1004 mbMixed
Sep 25, 00:0012.0N 154.4E1004 mbMixed
Sep 25, 06:0012.4N 153.1E1004 mbMixed
Sep 25, 12:0012.8N 151.9E1004 mbMixed
Sep 25, 18:0013.1N 150.9E1004 mbMixed
Sep 26, 00:0013.4N 149.8E1004 mbMixed
Sep 26, 06:0013.7N 148.6E1004 mbMixed
Sep 26, 12:0013.4N 149.9E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 26, 18:0013.6N 148.3E30 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 27, 00:0013.9N 146.5E30 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 27, 06:0014.8N 145.1E35 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 27, 12:0015.9N 143.8E35 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 27, 18:0016.8N 142.6E40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 00:0018.1N 141.8E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 06:0018.9N 141.9E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 12:0019.6N 142.0E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 18:0020.4N 142.0E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 00:0021.0N 141.9E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 06:0022.4N 141.7E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 12:0023.7N 141.3E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 18:0024.8N 141.0E50 kt983 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 00:0025.8N 140.8E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 06:0027.0N 141.0E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 12:0028.5N 141.4E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 18:0030.2N 142.2E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 00:0032.6N 143.1E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 06:0034.4N 144.1E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 12:0036.1N 145.8E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 18:0036.7N 147.0E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 00:0036.9N 148.1E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 06:0037.3N 150.2E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 12:0038.5N 152.3E50 kt980 mbMixed
Oct 2, 18:0039.0N 156.0E45 kt980 mbMixed
Oct 3, 00:0039.2N 157.5E40 kt980 mbMixed
Oct 3, 06:0039.4N 158.2E35 kt985 mbMixed
Oct 3, 12:0039.2N 161.0E30 kt990 mbMixed
Oct 3, 18:0037.5N 160.6E990 mbMixed
Oct 4, 00:0037.3N 162.5E998 mbExtratropical
Oct 4, 06:0036.9N 164.1E1002 mbExtratropical
Oct 4, 12:0036.5N 166.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Oct 4, 18:0036.2N 168.0E1008 mbExtratropical
Oct 5, 00:0036.3N 169.4E1008 mbExtratropical
Oct 5, 06:0036.8N 170.8E1010 mbExtratropical
Oct 5, 12:0037.1N 171.4E1012 mbExtratropical
Oct 5, 18:0037.5N 172.1E1014 mbExtratropical
Oct 6, 00:0037.8N 173.0E1015 mbExtratropical

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.