The 1972 season

Typhoon Sally (1972)

Typhoon Sally reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between November 30, 1972 and December 8, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 985 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Sally, 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
November 30, 1972 to December 8, 1972
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
985 mb (29.09 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.5
Identifier
WP301972

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 30, 00:007.4N 115.4E25 kt1008 mbMixed
Nov 30, 06:007.6N 114.3E30 kt1004 mbMixed
Nov 30, 12:007.9N 113.1E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 30, 18:008.0N 111.5E50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 1, 00:007.5N 110.7E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 1, 06:006.8N 109.1E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 1, 12:006.7N 107.8E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 1, 18:006.8N 106.7E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 2, 00:007.1N 105.7E80 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 2, 06:007.5N 105.2E80 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 2, 12:007.8N 104.5E70 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 2, 18:008.0N 103.9E70 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 3, 00:008.0N 103.0E70 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 3, 06:008.4N 102.3E65 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 3, 12:008.9N 101.8E60 kt992 mbTropical storm
Dec 3, 18:009.2N 101.5E60 kt994 mbTropical storm
Dec 4, 00:009.6N 101.1E60 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 4, 06:0010.0N 100.7E60 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 4, 12:0010.0N 100.0E55 ktTropical storm
Dec 4, 18:0010.0N 99.5E45 ktTropical storm
Dec 5, 00:0010.0N 99.2E40 ktMixed
Dec 5, 06:0010.5N 98.7EMixed
Dec 5, 12:0010.6N 98.3EMixed
Dec 5, 18:0010.8N 97.8EMixed
Dec 6, 00:0010.9N 97.1EMixed
Dec 6, 06:0011.0N 96.8EMixed
Dec 6, 12:0011.1N 96.5EMixed
Dec 6, 18:0011.1N 96.3EMixed
Dec 7, 00:0011.2N 96.1EMixed
Dec 7, 06:0011.3N 95.8EMixed
Dec 7, 12:0011.6N 95.5ETropical storm
Dec 7, 18:0012.1N 95.2ETropical storm
Dec 8, 00:0013.0N 95.0ETropical 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.