The 1953 season

Typhoon Viola (1953)

Typhoon Viola reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between October 1, 1953 and October 10, 1953, with a lowest pressure of 967 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Viola, 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
October 1, 1953 to October 10, 1953
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
967 mb (28.56 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 33 km (21 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.6
Identifier
WP171953

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 1, 00:0016.0N 113.0EDisturbance
Oct 1, 06:0017.0N 112.7EDisturbance
Oct 1, 12:0018.0N 112.6EDisturbance
Oct 1, 18:0018.8N 112.7E1008 mbMixed
Oct 2, 00:0019.5N 113.6E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 06:0020.3N 114.6E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 12:0020.6N 115.2E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 18:0020.8N 115.7E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 00:0021.0N 116.4E1005 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 06:0021.3N 118.1E1005 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 12:0021.5N 122.2E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 18:0022.0N 124.0E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 00:0022.5N 125.5E50 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 06:0022.6N 126.5E60 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 12:0022.5N 127.5E60 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 18:0022.6N 128.4E60 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 00:0022.5N 130.5E60 kt967 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 06:0023.0N 132.5E60 kt967 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 12:0024.0N 135.0E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 18:0025.4N 137.5E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 00:0026.5N 139.0E75 kt977 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 06:0027.2N 142.0E75 kt977 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 12:0028.5N 144.0E100 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 18:0029.8N 146.2E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 00:0031.0N 148.1E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 06:0031.5N 150.0E45 kt985 mbMixed
Oct 7, 12:0032.0N 151.5E40 kt990 mbMixed
Oct 7, 18:0033.0N 154.5E35 kt1000 mbMixed
Oct 8, 00:0034.0N 156.5E30 kt1000 mbMixed
Oct 8, 06:0034.1N 157.1E1000 mbExtratropical
Oct 8, 12:0035.0N 158.5E1000 mbExtratropical
Oct 8, 18:0035.4N 161.1E1002 mbExtratropical
Oct 9, 00:0036.2N 163.0E1008 mbExtratropical
Oct 9, 06:0036.8N 164.8E1008 mbExtratropical
Oct 9, 12:0037.3N 166.3E1010 mbExtratropical
Oct 9, 18:0038.7N 169.0E1012 mbExtratropical
Oct 10, 00:0040.0N 173.6E1016 mbExtratropical
Oct 10, 06:0040.8N 177.0E1014 mbExtratropical
Oct 10, 12:0040.9N 179.4E1016 mbExtratropical
Oct 10, 18:0041.0N 181.0EExtratropical

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.