The 1968 season

Tropical Storm Polly (1968)

Tropical Storm Polly peaked at 55 kt in the Western Pacific between August 3, 1968 and August 18, 1968, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Polly, 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 3, 1968 to August 18, 1968
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 55 kt (63 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.0
Fastest the center moved
33 kt (38 mph)
Identifier
WP071968

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 3, 12:0017.2N 163.0E1006 mbMixed
Aug 3, 18:0017.3N 161.2E1006 mbMixed
Aug 4, 00:0017.6N 160.1E1006 mbMixed
Aug 4, 06:0018.0N 159.2E1006 mbMixed
Aug 4, 12:0018.9N 158.5E1006 mbMixed
Aug 4, 18:0019.7N 158.0E1000 mbMixed
Aug 5, 00:0020.5N 157.6E995 mbMixed
Aug 5, 06:0021.9N 157.2E25 kt995 mbMixed
Aug 5, 12:0022.9N 157.2E25 kt995 mbMixed
Aug 5, 18:0023.6N 156.9E25 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 6, 00:0023.9N 156.3E25 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 6, 06:0024.2N 156.6E30 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 6, 12:0024.0N 156.1E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 6, 18:0024.2N 155.8E30 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 7, 00:0024.5N 156.0E35 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 7, 06:0024.3N 155.6E35 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 7, 12:0024.5N 154.8E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 7, 18:0024.7N 153.9E40 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 00:0025.0N 152.8E40 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 06:0025.4N 151.7E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 12:0025.8N 150.5E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 18:0026.4N 149.1E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 00:0027.2N 147.5E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 06:0028.0N 145.6E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 12:0029.2N 143.9E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 18:0030.2N 142.2E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 00:0031.2N 140.8E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 06:0031.8N 139.3E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 12:0032.3N 137.9E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 18:0032.3N 136.6E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 00:0031.9N 135.5E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 06:0031.6N 134.6E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 12:0031.1N 133.8E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 18:0030.6N 133.1E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 00:0030.0N 132.5E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 06:0029.5N 131.6E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 12:0029.2N 130.6E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 18:0029.0N 129.3E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 00:0028.4N 128.3E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 06:0028.2N 127.3E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 12:0028.5N 126.4E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 18:0028.4N 125.4E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 00:0028.0N 124.6E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 06:0027.9N 123.9E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 12:0028.0N 123.4E50 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 18:0027.4N 123.7E50 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 00:0027.6N 124.5E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 06:0028.5N 124.3E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 12:0029.1N 125.3E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 18:0030.4N 126.3E45 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 00:0032.2N 127.2E45 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 06:0034.3N 128.8E40 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 12:0036.4N 131.1E40 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 18:0039.1N 132.9E35 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 17, 00:0041.9N 134.7E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 17, 06:0043.7N 135.5E988 mbTropical storm
Aug 17, 12:0045.4N 135.8E994 mbExtratropical
Aug 17, 18:0046.8N 135.0E998 mbExtratropical
Aug 18, 00:0047.3N 134.3E1000 mbExtratropical

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.