The 1972 season

Tropical Storm Viola (1972)

Tropical Storm Viola peaked at 60 kt in the Western Pacific between July 19, 1972 and July 28, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 975 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Viola, 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 19, 1972 to July 28, 1972
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 60 kt (69 mph)
Lowest pressure
975 mb (28.79 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 730 km (454 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.0
Identifier
WP111972

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 19, 18:0011.3N 164.8E1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 00:0011.6N 165.1E1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 06:0012.0N 165.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 12:0012.1N 164.5E1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 20, 18:0012.1N 164.0E1006 mbTropical storm
Jul 21, 00:0012.2N 163.3E1004 mbMixed
Jul 21, 06:0012.4N 162.5E1004 mbMixed
Jul 21, 12:0012.9N 161.6E1004 mbMixed
Jul 21, 18:0013.6N 160.6E1004 mbMixed
Jul 22, 00:0014.3N 159.8E1004 mbMixed
Jul 22, 06:0015.1N 159.2E1004 mbMixed
Jul 22, 12:0015.9N 158.5E1004 mbMixed
Jul 22, 18:0016.9N 158.3E1004 mbMixed
Jul 23, 00:0019.0N 160.0E20 kt1004 mbMixed
Jul 23, 06:0020.0N 159.5E20 kt1004 mbMixed
Jul 23, 12:0020.9N 159.4E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Jul 23, 18:0021.9N 159.2E30 kt1004 mbMixed
Jul 24, 00:0022.8N 159.2E30 kt1004 mbMixed
Jul 24, 06:0023.1N 159.9E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 12:0023.5N 160.6E55 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 18:0024.5N 162.1E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 00:0024.7N 163.3E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 06:0025.7N 164.9E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 12:0027.2N 166.4E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 18:0029.7N 167.6E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 00:0031.9N 169.2E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 06:0034.0N 169.4E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 12:0036.0N 169.5E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 18:0037.5N 168.8E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 00:0039.0N 168.0E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 06:0040.5N 166.5E30 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 12:0042.0N 165.0E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 18:0043.1N 164.0E25 kt1000 mbMixed
Jul 28, 00:0044.2N 163.0E20 kt1004 mbMixed
Jul 28, 06:0044.6N 162.5E15 kt1008 mbMixed
Jul 28, 12:0045.0N 162.0E15 kt1012 mbMixed

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.