The 1972 season

Super Typhoon Betty (1972)

Super Typhoon Betty reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between August 8, 1972 and August 20, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 910 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Betty, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1972 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 8, 1972 to August 20, 1972
Peak strength
Category 4, 135 kt (155 mph)
Lowest pressure
910 mb (26.87 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
29.1
Identifier
WP141972

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 8, 00:0011.3N 151.8E20 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 06:0011.4N 151.2E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 12:0011.6N 150.5E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 18:0011.7N 150.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 00:0011.9N 149.8E30 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 06:0012.4N 149.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 12:0013.0N 148.5E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 18:0013.7N 148.2E50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 00:0014.6N 147.4E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 06:0015.5N 146.5E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 12:0016.3N 145.7E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 18:0016.8N 145.0E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 00:0017.4N 144.2E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 06:0017.8N 143.1E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 12:0018.2N 141.8E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 18:0018.5N 140.7E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 00:0018.6N 139.7E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 06:0018.7N 138.7E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 12:0018.8N 137.4E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 18:0018.8N 136.4E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 00:0018.9N 135.4E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 06:0019.0N 134.5E105 kt935 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 12:0019.2N 133.6E105 kt930 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 18:0019.4N 132.6E105 kt920 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 00:0019.6N 131.7E110 kt920 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 06:0020.0N 130.8E115 kt915 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 12:0020.4N 129.8E125 kt920 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 18:0020.9N 128.7E125 kt925 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 00:0021.2N 127.8E125 kt925 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 06:0021.4N 127.1E125 kt915 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 12:0022.0N 126.6E130 kt910 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 18:0022.8N 125.8E135 kt920 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 00:0023.7N 125.0E125 kt925 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 06:0024.6N 124.3E105 kt930 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 12:0025.3N 123.1E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 18:0025.7N 122.1E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
Aug 17, 00:0026.5N 121.4E80 kt940 mbTropical storm
Aug 17, 06:0027.0N 120.8E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 17, 12:0027.5N 119.8E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 17, 18:0027.8N 119.0E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 18, 00:0027.9N 118.2E30 kt992 mbMixed
Aug 18, 06:0028.0N 117.2E30 kt994 mbMixed
Aug 18, 12:0028.2N 116.2E25 kt996 mbMixed
Aug 18, 18:0028.4N 115.8E20 kt996 mbMixed
Aug 19, 00:0028.7N 115.2E15 kt998 mbMixed
Aug 19, 06:0029.1N 115.2E10 kt1000 mbMixed
Aug 19, 12:0027.4N 115.1EDisturbance
Aug 19, 18:0027.0N 115.3EDisturbance
Aug 20, 00:0026.5N 115.5EDisturbance

Other Western Pacific storms of 1972

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.