The 1972 season

Typhoon Pamela (1972)

Typhoon Pamela reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between November 2, 1972 and November 9, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Pamela, 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
November 2, 1972 to November 9, 1972
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
12.3
Identifier
WP281972

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
Nov 2, 00:0017.6N 143.6E1012 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 06:0017.2N 142.1E1008 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 12:0016.7N 140.8E1008 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 18:0015.9N 139.2E1008 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 00:0014.0N 140.0E30 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 06:0013.6N 138.0E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 12:0013.4N 136.0E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 18:0013.2N 134.0E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 00:0013.1N 131.9E45 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 06:0013.0N 129.8E50 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 12:0012.8N 128.0E65 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 18:0012.5N 126.5E75 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 00:0012.3N 124.8E75 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 06:0012.2N 123.2E75 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 12:0012.6N 121.5E65 kt994 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 18:0013.0N 119.7E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 00:0013.2N 118.7E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 06:0013.4N 117.6E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 12:0013.8N 116.2E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 18:0014.6N 114.8E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 00:0015.2N 113.7E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 06:0015.9N 112.6E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 12:0016.7N 111.5E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 18:0017.5N 110.9E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 00:0018.6N 110.6E100 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 06:0019.7N 110.7E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 12:0021.5N 111.8E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 18:0023.2N 113.1E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 00:0025.0N 115.0E20 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 06:0025.5N 116.5E20 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 12:0026.0N 118.0E15 kt1012 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 18:0026.0N 121.0E15 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.