The 1952 season

Super Typhoon Wilma (1952)

Super Typhoon Wilma reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 21, 1952 and October 31, 1952, with a lowest pressure of 930 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Wilma, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
October 21, 1952 to October 31, 1952
Peak strength
Category 5, 160 kt (184 mph)
Lowest pressure
930 mb (27.46 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
37.6
Identifier
WP201952

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
Oct 21, 12:005.5N 152.0E30 ktTropical storm
Oct 21, 18:005.6N 151.2E30 ktTropical storm
Oct 22, 00:005.6N 150.5E40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 06:005.7N 149.8E45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 12:005.8N 149.0E45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 18:006.0N 148.0E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 00:006.2N 147.3E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 06:007.0N 146.8E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 12:007.5N 146.0E55 kt988 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 18:007.8N 145.1E70 kt977 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 00:008.3N 144.5E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 06:008.8N 143.8E95 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 12:009.5N 143.0E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 18:009.8N 141.2E120 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 00:0010.3N 139.5E120 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 06:0010.9N 137.8E130 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 12:0010.9N 136.0E140 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 18:0011.0N 134.3E150 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 00:0011.0N 132.8E160 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 06:0011.4N 131.0E160 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 12:0011.5N 129.0E150 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 18:0011.4N 127.6E140 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 00:0011.3N 126.2E130 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 06:0011.4N 125.0E120 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 12:0011.7N 123.5E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 18:0012.2N 122.0E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 00:0012.7N 120.4E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 06:0012.9N 118.8E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 12:0013.0N 117.0E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 18:0013.5N 115.9E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 00:0014.1N 114.9E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 06:0014.3N 113.7E105 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 12:0014.5N 112.5E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 18:0014.7N 111.5E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 00:0015.0N 110.4E100 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 06:0015.5N 109.5E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 12:0016.0N 108.5E40 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 18:0015.0N 106.5E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 00:0014.5N 105.0E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 06:0014.0N 104.0E35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 12:0013.5N 103.0E25 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.