The 1972 season

Typhoon Flossie (1972)

Typhoon Flossie reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between September 7, 1972 and September 18, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 975 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Flossie, 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
September 7, 1972 to September 18, 1972
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
975 mb (28.79 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.6
Identifier
WP181972

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 7, 06:0011.6N 137.1E1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 12:0012.1N 136.2E1004 mbMixed
Sep 7, 18:0012.5N 134.8E1004 mbMixed
Sep 8, 00:0012.8N 133.3E1004 mbMixed
Sep 8, 06:0013.0N 131.6E1004 mbMixed
Sep 8, 12:0013.1N 130.0E1004 mbMixed
Sep 8, 18:0013.3N 128.7E1006 mbMixed
Sep 9, 00:0014.5N 125.7E30 kt1006 mbMixed
Sep 9, 06:0014.5N 124.8E30 kt1006 mbMixed
Sep 9, 12:0014.6N 124.0E30 kt1006 mbMixed
Sep 9, 18:0014.7N 123.0E35 kt1006 mbMixed
Sep 10, 00:0014.8N 122.0E45 kt1006 mbMixed
Sep 10, 06:0014.8N 121.5E45 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 10, 12:0014.8N 120.9E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 18:0014.7N 120.1E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 00:0014.7N 119.1E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 06:0014.8N 118.4E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 12:0014.9N 117.7E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 18:0014.7N 117.0E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 00:0014.8N 116.2E45 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 06:0015.0N 115.9E50 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 12:0015.0N 115.3E50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 18:0015.1N 114.9E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 00:0015.5N 114.2E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 06:0015.7N 113.7E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0015.6N 113.2E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0015.5N 113.0E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0015.3N 112.8E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0015.2N 112.4E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0015.0N 111.7E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 18:0015.0N 111.1E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0015.0N 110.7E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 06:0014.9N 110.1E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 12:0014.7N 109.6E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 18:0014.5N 109.0E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 00:0014.5N 108.7E55 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 06:0014.5N 108.4E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0014.5N 108.1E25 kt1002 mbMixed
Sep 16, 18:0014.6N 107.8E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 17, 00:0014.6N 107.5E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 17, 06:0014.9N 106.8E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 17, 12:0015.1N 106.1E25 kt1002 mbMixed
Sep 17, 18:0015.2N 105.4E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 18, 00:0015.1N 104.5E20 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 18, 06:0015.2N 102.9E20 ktMixed
Sep 18, 12:0015.4N 101.2E20 ktMixed

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.