The 1953 season

Super Typhoon Kit (1953)

Super Typhoon Kit reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between June 25, 1953 and July 8, 1953, with a lowest pressure of 910 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Kit, 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
June 25, 1953 to July 8, 1953
Peak strength
Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)
Lowest pressure
910 mb (26.87 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
46.3
Identifier
WP051953

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
Jun 25, 00:005.0N 150.0E30 ktTropical storm
Jun 25, 06:005.2N 149.4E30 ktTropical storm
Jun 25, 12:005.4N 148.9E30 ktTropical storm
Jun 25, 18:005.6N 148.3E35 ktTropical storm
Jun 26, 00:005.7N 147.7E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jun 26, 06:005.8N 147.0E45 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jun 26, 12:006.0N 146.3E60 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jun 26, 18:006.3N 145.7E70 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jun 27, 00:006.8N 145.2E75 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jun 27, 06:007.4N 144.3E75 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jun 27, 12:007.7N 143.8E80 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jun 27, 18:007.7N 143.0E80 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jun 28, 00:007.7N 142.3E80 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jun 28, 06:008.3N 141.4E100 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 28, 12:009.1N 140.7E110 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jun 28, 18:0010.2N 139.8E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jun 29, 00:0011.2N 139.2E110 kt956 mbTropical storm
Jun 29, 06:0012.2N 138.2E120 kt930 mbTropical storm
Jun 29, 12:0013.1N 137.0E150 kt920 mbTropical storm
Jun 29, 18:0013.7N 135.7E150 kt920 mbTropical storm
Jun 30, 00:0014.1N 134.1E150 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jun 30, 06:0014.8N 133.3E150 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jun 30, 12:0015.9N 132.4E150 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jun 30, 18:0016.3N 131.2E150 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jul 1, 00:0016.5N 130.0E145 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jul 1, 06:0016.6N 129.0E140 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jul 1, 12:0016.9N 128.2E140 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jul 1, 18:0017.2N 127.7E140 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jul 2, 00:0017.5N 127.2E130 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jul 2, 06:0018.5N 126.9E120 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jul 2, 12:0019.4N 126.5E120 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jul 2, 18:0020.2N 125.9E120 kt910 mbTropical storm
Jul 3, 00:0021.0N 125.0E120 kt920 mbTropical storm
Jul 3, 06:0021.9N 123.8E110 kt935 mbTropical storm
Jul 3, 12:0022.8N 122.4E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jul 3, 18:0024.2N 121.3E90 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jul 4, 00:0025.3N 120.7E90 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jul 4, 06:0026.5N 119.9E60 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jul 4, 12:0027.6N 119.6E40 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jul 4, 18:0028.7N 119.5E40 kt970 mbMixed
Jul 5, 00:0029.7N 119.5E40 kt980 mbMixed
Jul 5, 06:0030.8N 119.7E40 kt985 mbMixed
Jul 5, 12:0032.1N 120.0E40 kt985 mbMixed
Jul 5, 18:0033.5N 120.7E55 kt990 mbMixed
Jul 6, 00:0034.8N 121.7E55 kt990 mbMixed
Jul 6, 06:0035.8N 122.7E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 6, 12:0037.2N 124.5E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 6, 18:0038.7N 126.9E40 kt990 mbMixed
Jul 7, 00:0039.6N 131.0E40 kt998 mbMixed
Jul 7, 06:0039.9N 133.9E40 kt998 mbMixed
Jul 7, 12:0040.2N 136.3E30 kt998 mbMixed
Jul 7, 18:0040.5N 137.9E30 kt998 mbMixed
Jul 8, 00:0040.8N 139.4E20 kt1000 mbMixed
Jul 8, 06:0041.0N 141.0E20 ktTropical storm

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.