The 1972 season

Typhoon Phyllis (1972)

Typhoon Phyllis reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between July 4, 1972 and July 22, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 945 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Phyllis, 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
July 4, 1972 to July 22, 1972
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
945 mb (27.91 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
25.1
Identifier
WP071972

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
Jul 4, 18:008.0N 161.0E1006 mbTropical storm
Jul 5, 00:006.2N 162.9E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jul 5, 06:006.4N 162.1E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jul 5, 12:006.6N 161.5E30 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Jul 5, 18:006.8N 160.7E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jul 6, 00:007.0N 159.8E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jul 6, 06:007.3N 158.9E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 6, 12:007.8N 158.1E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 6, 18:008.3N 157.1E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 7, 00:008.9N 156.2E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 7, 06:009.3N 155.8E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 7, 12:009.6N 155.5E45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 7, 18:0010.0N 155.3E50 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 8, 00:0010.4N 155.2E50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jul 8, 06:0010.8N 154.9E55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 8, 12:0011.2N 154.8E55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jul 8, 18:0011.9N 154.9E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 9, 00:0012.5N 154.8E65 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 9, 06:0013.0N 154.6E65 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jul 9, 12:0013.1N 154.5E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 9, 18:0013.2N 154.3E85 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 10, 00:0013.2N 154.0E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 10, 06:0013.3N 153.9E105 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jul 10, 12:0013.5N 154.0E110 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jul 10, 18:0013.7N 154.0E115 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jul 11, 00:0014.2N 153.9E120 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 11, 06:0015.0N 154.0E110 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 11, 12:0015.9N 153.9E105 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jul 11, 18:0017.0N 153.3E105 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jul 12, 00:0018.2N 152.6E105 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 12, 06:0019.4N 151.2E105 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 12, 12:0020.5N 149.8E100 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 12, 18:0021.5N 147.9E95 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 13, 00:0022.6N 146.1E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 13, 06:0023.6N 144.6E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 13, 12:0024.9N 143.2E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 13, 18:0026.1N 142.0E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jul 14, 00:0027.4N 140.8E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 14, 06:0028.7N 139.4E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jul 14, 12:0029.5N 138.4E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 14, 18:0030.4N 137.8E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 15, 00:0031.5N 137.6E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 15, 06:0033.5N 137.2E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 15, 12:0035.1N 136.6E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 15, 18:0036.6N 136.6E35 ktMixed
Jul 16, 00:0038.8N 136.5E30 ktMixed
Jul 16, 06:0041.5N 136.7E25 ktTropical storm
Jul 16, 12:0042.0N 137.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jul 16, 18:0042.9N 137.5E20 ktTropical storm
Jul 17, 00:0043.8N 138.0E15 ktTropical storm
Jul 17, 06:0045.5N 141.0E15 ktTropical storm
Jul 17, 12:0047.0N 144.0E15 ktTropical storm
Jul 17, 18:0048.5N 144.0E15 ktTropical storm
Jul 18, 00:0050.0N 144.0E15 ktTropical storm
Jul 18, 06:0050.2N 145.5E20 ktTropical storm
Jul 18, 12:0050.3N 147.5E25 ktTropical storm
Jul 18, 18:0050.2N 149.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jul 19, 00:0050.2N 151.0E30 ktTropical storm
Jul 19, 06:0050.1N 153.5E30 ktTropical storm
Jul 19, 12:0050.0N 156.0E30 ktTropical storm
Jul 19, 18:0049.0N 159.0E30 ktTropical storm
Jul 20, 00:0048.0N 161.5E30 ktTropical storm
Jul 20, 06:0048.2N 164.0E30 ktTropical storm
Jul 20, 12:0048.5N 167.0E30 ktTropical storm
Jul 20, 18:0048.3N 168.5E30 ktTropical storm
Jul 21, 00:0048.2N 170.0E35 ktTropical storm
Jul 21, 06:0049.3N 171.5E35 ktTropical storm
Jul 21, 12:0050.5N 173.0E35 ktTropical storm
Jul 21, 18:0052.0N 174.8E35 ktTropical storm
Jul 22, 00:0053.5N 176.5E35 ktTropical storm
Jul 22, 06:0054.5N 177.0E30 ktTropical storm
Jul 22, 12:0055.5N 177.5E30 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.