The 1953 season

Super Typhoon Betty (1953)

Super Typhoon Betty reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between October 25, 1953 and November 3, 1953, with a lowest pressure of 966 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Betty, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1953 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 25, 1953 to November 3, 1953
Peak strength
Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)
Lowest pressure
966 mb (28.53 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
21.3
Identifier
WP201953

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 25, 12:008.6N 138.2E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 25, 18:008.8N 136.5E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 26, 00:009.2N 134.7E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 26, 06:009.7N 132.6E20 kt1006 mbMixed
Oct 26, 12:0010.3N 131.0E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Oct 26, 18:0011.4N 129.2E20 kt1006 mbMixed
Oct 27, 00:0012.4N 127.5E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Oct 27, 06:0013.2N 125.7E25 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 12:0013.9N 124.2E30 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 18:0014.3N 123.0E35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 00:0014.9N 121.5E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 06:0015.2N 120.4E50 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 12:0015.3N 119.5E60 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 18:0015.4N 118.7E70 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 00:0016.2N 118.1E85 kt988 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 06:0016.7N 117.5E100 kt982 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 12:0016.9N 117.0E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 18:0016.9N 116.5E105 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 00:0016.9N 116.0E110 kt966 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 06:0016.9N 115.5E120 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 12:0017.0N 114.9E130 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 18:0017.2N 114.3E130 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 00:0017.3N 113.5E130 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 06:0017.5N 112.8E120 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 12:0017.8N 112.0E115 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 18:0018.0N 111.1E115 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 00:0018.5N 110.0E110 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 06:0018.7N 109.4E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 12:0018.8N 108.7E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 18:0018.8N 108.2E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 00:0018.8N 107.5E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 06:0019.3N 112.4E1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 12:0018.9N 112.6E1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 18:0018.4N 112.6ETropical storm
Nov 3, 00:0017.9N 112.5ETropical storm
Nov 3, 06:0017.5N 112.2ETropical storm
Nov 3, 12:0017.0N 112.0EDisturbance

Other Western Pacific storms of 1953

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.