The 1972 season

Typhoon Kit (1972)

Typhoon Kit reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between January 4, 1972 and January 15, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Kit, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
January 4, 1972 to January 15, 1972
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.3
Identifier
WP011972

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
Jan 4, 00:0010.0N 142.2E1006 mbMixed
Jan 4, 06:009.3N 141.0E1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 12:009.4N 140.0E1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 18:009.5N 138.9E1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 00:009.9N 137.7E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 06:009.8N 136.5E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 12:009.7N 135.2E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 18:009.9N 133.9E50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 00:0010.2N 132.8E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 06:0010.7N 131.8E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 12:0011.1N 130.7E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 18:0011.4N 129.6E95 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 00:0011.5N 128.2E120 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 06:0011.5N 127.0E105 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 12:0011.5N 126.0E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 18:0011.2N 125.3E85 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 00:0011.0N 124.7E80 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 06:0010.9N 124.1E70 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 12:0010.9N 123.4E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 18:0010.9N 122.4E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 00:0011.8N 121.6E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 06:0012.7N 121.8E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 12:0013.6N 122.0E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 18:0014.3N 123.5E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 00:0015.0N 125.0E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 06:0015.2N 125.7E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 12:0015.3N 126.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 18:0015.2N 127.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 00:0015.0N 128.0E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 06:0014.8N 129.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 11, 12:0014.5N 130.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 11, 18:0014.3N 130.9E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 12, 00:0014.0N 131.7E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 12, 06:0013.9N 132.4E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 12, 12:0013.8N 133.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 12, 18:0013.7N 133.5E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 00:0013.5N 134.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 06:0013.1N 134.2E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 12:0012.6N 134.5E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 18:0012.1N 134.8E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 00:0011.6N 135.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 06:0011.2N 135.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 12:0010.8N 135.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 18:0010.4N 135.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 00:0010.0N 135.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 06:009.5N 135.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 12:009.0N 135.0E25 ktTropical storm

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.