The 1972 season

Typhoon Helen (1972)

Typhoon Helen reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between September 10, 1972 and September 21, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb, and made landfall. It killed 87 people, as Wikidata records it.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Helen, 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 10, 1972 to September 21, 1972
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
9.4
Fastest the center moved
30 kt (35 mph)
Identifier
WP201972

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

Wikidata

87 deathsno damage figure

A community-maintained total, usually direct and indirect deaths together and damage worldwide. Joined to this storm by its IBTrACS serial, not by name.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 10, 06:0014.2N 144.8E1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 12:0014.0N 144.0E1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 18:0013.6N 143.0E1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 00:0013.0N 142.6E1006 mbMixed
Sep 11, 06:0012.8N 142.5E1006 mbMixed
Sep 11, 12:0012.6N 141.5E1004 mbMixed
Sep 11, 18:0012.8N 140.0E1004 mbMixed
Sep 12, 00:0013.0N 138.5E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 12, 06:0013.5N 138.2E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 12:0014.0N 137.8E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 18:0014.5N 137.3E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 00:0015.0N 136.9E30 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 06:0015.4N 136.6E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0016.7N 135.5E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0017.6N 134.7E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0018.5N 133.9E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0019.4N 133.1E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0020.1N 132.4E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 18:0021.1N 132.0E70 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0022.1N 131.8E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 06:0023.6N 131.8E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 12:0025.1N 132.0E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 18:0027.0N 132.5E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 00:0029.3N 133.5E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 06:0031.9N 134.8E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0034.4N 136.0E65 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0037.3N 137.3E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0039.5N 139.0E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0041.6N 139.9E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0042.9N 139.8E50 kt978 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0043.2N 139.0E50 kt978 mbMixed
Sep 18, 00:0043.2N 138.2E55 kt980 mbMixed
Sep 18, 06:0043.1N 137.8E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0042.9N 137.6E35 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0042.3N 137.8E35 kt984 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0042.1N 138.2E30 kt990 mbMixed
Sep 19, 06:0042.0N 138.9E30 kt990 mbMixed
Sep 19, 12:0042.0N 139.7E30 kt998 mbMixed
Sep 19, 18:0042.1N 140.2E30 kt998 mbMixed
Sep 20, 00:0042.3N 140.8E20 kt1000 mbMixed
Sep 20, 06:0042.6N 141.9E15 kt1002 mbMixed
Sep 20, 12:0042.8N 143.3E15 kt1006 mbMixed
Sep 20, 18:0043.2N 145.8E15 kt1008 mbMixed
Sep 21, 00:0044.0N 147.7E20 kt1012 mbMixed

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.