The 1972 season

Tropical Storm Violet (1972)

Tropical Storm Violet peaked at 55 kt in the Western Pacific between December 11, 1972 and December 21, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 995 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Violet, 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
December 11, 1972 to December 21, 1972
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 55 kt (63 mph)
Lowest pressure
995 mb (29.38 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1011 km (628 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
1.5
Identifier
WP321972

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
Dec 11, 18:005.6N 170.6E25 ktMixed
Dec 12, 00:006.2N 170.2E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Dec 12, 06:007.1N 170.0E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Dec 12, 12:007.5N 170.6E25 kt1002 mbMixed
Dec 12, 18:007.8N 171.3E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 00:008.5N 171.1E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 06:008.9N 170.5E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 12:009.1N 170.3E55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 18:009.3N 170.0E55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 00:009.8N 170.1E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 06:009.4N 170.3E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 12:009.3N 170.0E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 18:009.6N 169.7E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 00:009.6N 169.3E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 06:009.1N 168.9E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 12:008.4N 168.5E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 18:008.1N 168.1E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 00:008.2N 167.6E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 06:008.4N 167.4E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 12:008.5N 167.1E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 18:007.8N 166.7E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 00:007.4N 166.8E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 06:006.8N 167.2E30 kt1006 mbMixed
Dec 17, 12:006.6N 166.8E30 kt1006 mbMixed
Dec 17, 18:006.3N 166.1E30 kt1006 mbMixed
Dec 18, 00:006.1N 165.2E30 kt1006 mbMixed
Dec 18, 06:006.0N 164.2E30 kt1006 mbMixed
Dec 18, 12:006.3N 163.6E25 kt1006 mbMixed
Dec 18, 18:006.6N 163.3E20 kt1006 mbMixed
Dec 19, 00:006.8N 163.1E20 kt1006 mbMixed
Dec 19, 06:005.7N 157.5E1006 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 12:006.0N 156.1E1008 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 18:006.7N 154.9E1008 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 00:007.3N 153.8E1008 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 06:008.0N 152.5E1008 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 12:008.4N 151.3E1010 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 18:008.5N 150.0E1010 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 00:008.0N 149.0E1010 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 06:007.0N 148.5E1010 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 12:007.0N 147.5E1012 mbTropical 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.