The 1972 season

Typhoon Tess (1972)

Typhoon Tess reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between July 7, 1972 and July 25, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Tess, 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 7, 1972 to July 25, 1972
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
42.7
Identifier
WP101972

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 7, 00:0011.2N 170.9E35 ktTropical storm
Jul 7, 06:0011.5N 170.5E35 ktTropical storm
Jul 7, 12:0011.9N 170.2E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 7, 18:0012.3N 169.8E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 8, 00:0012.7N 169.4E50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 8, 06:0012.8N 169.1E55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 8, 12:0012.6N 168.6E50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 8, 18:0012.5N 168.5E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 9, 00:0012.5N 168.0E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 9, 06:0012.9N 167.5E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 9, 12:0013.4N 167.1E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 9, 18:0013.5N 166.9E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 10, 00:0013.6N 166.8E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 10, 06:0013.7N 166.6E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 10, 12:0013.7N 166.6E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 10, 18:0013.7N 166.6E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 11, 00:0013.7N 166.6E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 11, 06:0013.9N 166.4E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 11, 12:0014.1N 166.2E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 11, 18:0014.2N 166.0E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 12, 00:0014.4N 165.5E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 12, 06:0014.4N 165.0E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 12, 12:0014.3N 164.6E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 12, 18:0014.1N 163.9E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 13, 00:0013.7N 163.1E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 13, 06:0013.2N 162.3E85 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jul 13, 12:0012.9N 161.4E95 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jul 13, 18:0012.7N 160.4E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 14, 00:0012.6N 159.7E105 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jul 14, 06:0012.7N 158.8E115 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 14, 12:0012.8N 158.3E120 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jul 14, 18:0013.3N 157.1E125 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jul 15, 00:0013.9N 156.4E120 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 15, 06:0014.8N 155.9E120 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jul 15, 12:0015.7N 155.5E125 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jul 15, 18:0016.6N 154.9E125 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jul 16, 00:0017.6N 154.4E125 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jul 16, 06:0018.4N 153.7E125 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jul 16, 12:0019.5N 152.9E115 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jul 16, 18:0020.3N 152.1E110 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 17, 00:0021.2N 151.6E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 17, 06:0021.6N 151.2E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 17, 12:0022.0N 150.9E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 17, 18:0022.5N 150.6E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 18, 00:0022.9N 150.3E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jul 18, 06:0023.4N 150.0E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jul 18, 12:0023.7N 149.9E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jul 18, 18:0024.4N 149.6E85 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 19, 00:0025.2N 149.3E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 19, 06:0025.7N 148.7E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jul 19, 12:0026.1N 148.3E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jul 19, 18:0026.8N 148.3E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 00:0027.4N 147.9E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 06:0027.7N 147.2E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 12:0028.0N 146.5E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 18:0028.2N 146.1E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 00:0028.5N 145.5E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 06:0028.9N 144.5E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 12:0029.3N 143.0E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 18:0029.2N 141.2E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 00:0029.2N 139.5E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 06:0029.4N 138.4E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 12:0029.7N 137.3E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 18:0030.4N 135.7E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 00:0031.0N 134.3E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 06:0031.9N 132.9E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 12:0033.2N 131.7E50 kt976 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 18:0035.0N 130.8E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 00:0037.0N 131.0E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 06:0038.7N 130.0E30 kt988 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 12:0040.0N 129.0E25 kt992 mbMixed
Jul 24, 18:0040.8N 128.5E20 kt996 mbMixed
Jul 25, 00:0041.7N 128.2E15 kt1000 mbMixed
Jul 25, 06:0042.0N 127.0E1000 mbExtratropical

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.