The 1953 season

Super Typhoon Doris (1953)

Super Typhoon Doris reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between December 9, 1953 and December 23, 1953, with a lowest pressure of 935 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Doris, 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.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
December 9, 1953 to December 23, 1953
Peak strength
Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)
Lowest pressure
935 mb (27.61 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1210 km (752 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
32.5
Identifier
WP241953

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
Dec 9, 06:005.8N 169.8E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 9, 12:005.8N 168.7E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 9, 18:005.8N 167.5E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 10, 00:005.8N 166.5E20 kt1004 mbMixed
Dec 10, 06:005.9N 165.4E20 kt1002 mbMixed
Dec 10, 12:006.0N 164.3E20 kt1004 mbMixed
Dec 10, 18:006.2N 163.2E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 00:006.5N 162.2E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 06:006.9N 161.2E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 12:007.5N 160.1E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 18:008.1N 159.4E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 00:008.6N 158.3E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 06:008.9N 157.1E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 12:009.4N 156.2E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 18:009.8N 155.0E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 00:0010.5N 154.0E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 06:0011.5N 153.0E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 12:0012.4N 152.1E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 18:0013.2N 151.2E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 00:0014.0N 150.5E60 kt977 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 06:0014.5N 149.1E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 12:0015.2N 148.3E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 18:0016.0N 147.5E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 00:0016.7N 147.0E95 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 06:0017.4N 146.7E90 kt942 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 12:0017.8N 146.3E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 18:0018.5N 146.2E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 00:0018.8N 145.9E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 06:0019.5N 145.7E90 kt935 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 12:0019.7N 145.5E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 18:0019.8N 145.2E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 00:0019.9N 145.1E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 06:0020.2N 144.5E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 12:0020.2N 143.7E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 18:0020.2N 143.3E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 00:0020.4N 142.1E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 06:0020.5N 141.9E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 12:0020.6N 141.4E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 18:0020.8N 141.6E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 00:0021.8N 141.5E95 kt952 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 06:0022.8N 141.5E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 12:0023.4N 141.3E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 18:0024.0N 141.8E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 00:0024.4N 142.6E120 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 06:0024.3N 144.1E135 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 12:0024.1N 145.8E150 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 18:0024.7N 148.2E125 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 00:0025.1N 150.5E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 06:0026.1N 152.9E65 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 12:0028.0N 157.0E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 18:0029.5N 161.0E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 00:0030.0N 165.0E30 kt1000 mbMixed
Dec 22, 06:0028.3N 159.0E1006 mbExtratropical
Dec 22, 12:0028.5N 160.3E1006 mbExtratropical
Dec 22, 18:0028.8N 161.9E1012 mbExtratropical
Dec 23, 00:0029.0N 163.8E1012 mbExtratropical
Dec 23, 06:0029.0N 167.0E1014 mbExtratropical
Dec 23, 12:0029.0N 170.0E1013 mbExtratropical
Dec 23, 18:0030.0N 175.0E1013 mbExtratropical

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.