The 1968 season

Typhoon Bess (1968)

Typhoon Bess reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between August 29, 1968 and September 10, 1968, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Bess, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1968 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
August 29, 1968 to September 10, 1968
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
5.6
Identifier
WP141968

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
Aug 29, 18:0023.2N 119.7EDisturbance
Aug 30, 00:0022.3N 119.6EDisturbance
Aug 30, 06:0021.5N 119.8EDisturbance
Aug 30, 12:0020.8N 119.2ETropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0020.2N 118.5ETropical storm
Aug 31, 00:0019.9N 117.9E1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 06:0019.7N 117.4E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 12:0019.6N 117.2E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 18:0019.5N 116.7E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 00:0019.6N 116.0E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 06:0019.7N 115.4E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 12:0019.7N 114.8E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 18:0019.6N 114.2E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 00:0019.2N 113.9E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 06:0019.5N 114.2E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 12:0019.5N 113.7E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 18:0019.5N 113.2E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 00:0019.6N 112.6E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 06:0019.2N 112.3E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 12:0018.6N 112.0E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 18:0018.2N 111.5E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 00:0017.9N 110.9E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 06:0017.8N 110.3E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 12:0017.5N 109.7E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0017.2N 109.2E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0016.8N 108.8E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0016.6N 108.4E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0016.4N 107.9E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0016.3N 107.5E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0016.2N 107.2E30 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 06:0017.0N 108.2E998 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0017.4N 108.8E998 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 18:0017.7N 109.2E998 mbMixed
Sep 7, 00:0017.9N 109.6E998 mbMixed
Sep 7, 06:0017.8N 110.1E998 mbMixed
Sep 7, 12:0017.8N 110.5E998 mbMixed
Sep 7, 18:0017.7N 111.1E998 mbMixed
Sep 8, 00:0017.8N 111.8E998 mbMixed
Sep 8, 06:0017.8N 112.5E998 mbMixed
Sep 8, 12:0017.7N 113.4E998 mbMixed
Sep 8, 18:0017.7N 113.5E1000 mbMixed
Sep 9, 00:0018.1N 113.3E1000 mbMixed
Sep 9, 06:0018.3N 113.0E1002 mbMixed
Sep 9, 12:0018.3N 112.4E1002 mbMixed
Sep 9, 18:0018.6N 112.0E1002 mbMixed
Sep 10, 00:0019.0N 111.3E1002 mbMixed
Sep 10, 06:0020.2N 110.2EDisturbance
Sep 10, 12:0019.8N 107.8EDisturbance
Sep 10, 18:0019.2N 106.2EDisturbance

Other Western Pacific storms of 1968

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.