The 1963 season

Super Typhoon Kit (1963)

Super Typhoon Kit reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between October 3, 1963 and October 14, 1963, with a lowest pressure of 930 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Kit, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1963 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 3, 1963 to October 14, 1963
Peak strength
Category 4, 135 kt (155 mph)
Lowest pressure
930 mb (27.46 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 478 km (297 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
25.7
Identifier
WP181963

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 3, 06:0010.3N 140.3E1006 mbMixed
Oct 3, 12:0011.3N 141.2E1008 mbMixed
Oct 3, 18:0012.2N 141.8E1006 mbMixed
Oct 4, 00:0013.0N 141.5E1006 mbMixed
Oct 4, 06:0013.6N 141.0E1004 mbMixed
Oct 4, 12:0014.2N 140.5E1004 mbMixed
Oct 4, 18:0014.8N 140.1E1004 mbMixed
Oct 5, 00:0015.3N 139.6E1002 mbMixed
Oct 5, 06:0015.7N 139.4E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 12:0016.2N 139.3E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 18:0016.7N 139.3E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 00:0017.3N 139.2E50 kt993 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 06:0017.9N 138.8E55 kt993 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 12:0018.4N 138.1E60 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 18:0018.8N 137.4E70 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 00:0019.2N 136.8E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 06:0019.4N 136.3E80 kt978 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 12:0019.7N 136.0E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 18:0019.9N 135.5E90 kt962 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 00:0020.0N 134.9E105 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 06:0020.2N 134.3E115 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 12:0020.3N 133.5E120 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 18:0020.6N 132.9E125 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 00:0020.9N 132.1E130 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 06:0021.2N 131.5E135 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 12:0021.7N 131.4E135 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 18:0022.4N 131.5E125 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 00:0023.5N 132.0E115 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:0024.7N 132.7E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:0025.8N 133.7E110 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 18:0026.9N 135.0E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 00:0028.0N 136.6E110 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 06:0029.6N 139.1E110 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 12:0031.4N 142.6E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 18:0033.3N 146.0E70 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 00:0034.8N 150.7E990 mbMixed
Oct 12, 06:0036.0N 154.7E990 mbMixed
Oct 12, 12:0037.7N 158.4E990 mbMixed
Oct 12, 18:0039.5N 162.0E994 mbExtratropical
Oct 13, 00:0041.1N 164.5E994 mbExtratropical
Oct 13, 06:0043.0N 166.9E990 mbExtratropical
Oct 13, 12:0045.3N 170.7E990 mbExtratropical
Oct 13, 18:0047.2N 173.2E988 mbExtratropical
Oct 14, 00:0049.4N 179.9E982 mbExtratropical
Oct 14, 06:0050.6N 183.8EExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1963

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.