The 1962 season

Super Typhoon Emma (1962)

Super Typhoon Emma reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between September 28, 1962 and October 13, 1962, with a lowest pressure of 890 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Emma, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1962 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
September 28, 1962 to October 13, 1962
Peak strength
Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
Lowest pressure
890 mb (26.28 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 279 km (173 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
48.5
Identifier
WP211962

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
Sep 28, 12:009.5N 161.0E1008 mbMixed
Sep 28, 18:009.6N 160.5E1006 mbMixed
Sep 29, 00:0010.0N 160.0E1008 mbMixed
Sep 29, 06:0010.5N 159.4E1006 mbMixed
Sep 29, 12:0011.0N 159.1E1008 mbMixed
Sep 29, 18:0011.7N 159.5E1008 mbMixed
Sep 30, 00:0012.4N 159.7E1008 mbMixed
Sep 30, 06:0013.1N 159.1E1008 mbMixed
Sep 30, 12:0013.8N 158.0E1008 mbMixed
Sep 30, 18:0014.4N 156.5E1004 mbMixed
Oct 1, 00:0014.9N 154.5E1004 mbMixed
Oct 1, 06:0015.2N 152.5E1004 mbMixed
Oct 1, 12:0015.4N 150.7E1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 18:0015.8N 146.6E60 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 00:0015.6N 146.6E70 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 06:0015.6N 146.8E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 12:0015.7N 146.9E85 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 18:0015.9N 146.9E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 00:0016.3N 147.1E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 06:0016.9N 147.2E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 12:0017.5N 147.0E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 18:0018.2N 146.6E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 00:0018.9N 146.6E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 06:0019.8N 146.3E120 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 12:0020.7N 145.8E125 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 18:0021.4N 145.3E135 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 00:0021.9N 144.9E140 kt905 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 06:0022.4N 144.4E140 kt890 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 12:0022.8N 144.2E135 kt910 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 18:0023.2N 144.5E130 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 00:0023.4N 144.9E120 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 06:0023.6N 145.3E120 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 12:0023.7N 145.8E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 18:0023.9N 146.4E110 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 00:0024.1N 146.9E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 06:0024.2N 147.4E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 12:0024.2N 148.0E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 18:0024.1N 148.5E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 00:0024.0N 149.2E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 06:0023.8N 149.8E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 12:0023.7N 150.6E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 18:0023.6N 151.6E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 00:0023.7N 152.5E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 06:0024.3N 153.5E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 12:0025.1N 154.6E100 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 18:0026.2N 155.3E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 00:0027.2N 157.0E95 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:0028.8N 158.8E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:0031.4N 159.5E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 18:0033.2N 161.1E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 00:0034.9N 163.1E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 06:0036.5N 165.8E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 12:0038.4N 168.7E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 18:0041.0N 169.0E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 00:0044.0N 171.5E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 06:0046.5N 173.0E75 kt965 mbMixed
Oct 12, 12:0049.5N 173.0E75 kt950 mbMixed
Oct 12, 18:0050.2N 176.0E60 kt950 mbMixed
Oct 13, 00:0051.5N 179.0E50 kt954 mbMixed
Oct 13, 06:0052.5N 177.0W45 ktMixed
Oct 13, 12:0053.2N 174.5W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0053.5N 173.0W35 ktTropical storm

Other Western Pacific storms of 1962

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.