The 1973 season

Super Typhoon Nora (1973)

Super Typhoon Nora reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 1, 1973 and October 11, 1973, with a lowest pressure of 875 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Nora, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1973 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
October 1, 1973 to October 11, 1973
Peak strength
Category 5, 160 kt (184 mph)
Lowest pressure
875 mb (25.84 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
28.1
Fastest the center moved
13 kt (15 mph)
Identifier
WP171973

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
Oct 1, 00:0010.1N 136.3E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 06:0010.5N 136.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 12:0010.9N 136.1E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 18:0011.2N 135.7E30 kt1004 mbMixed
Oct 2, 00:0011.4N 135.3E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 06:0011.4N 134.6E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 12:0011.4N 133.8E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 18:0011.1N 133.1E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 00:0011.0N 133.6E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 06:0011.6N 133.4E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 12:0011.3N 132.6E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 18:0010.9N 131.9E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 00:0011.4N 131.7E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 06:0011.9N 131.9E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 12:0012.6N 131.9E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 18:0013.0N 131.3E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 00:0013.4N 130.7E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 06:0013.8N 130.1E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 12:0014.2N 129.5E125 kt905 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 18:0014.5N 128.6E145 kt890 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 00:0014.7N 127.7E160 kt875 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 06:0014.8N 126.5E150 kt885 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 12:0014.8N 125.6E140 kt900 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 18:0015.1N 124.9E130 kt905 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 00:0015.6N 124.2E120 kt915 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 06:0016.3N 123.6E115 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 12:0017.1N 123.0E110 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 18:0018.0N 122.5E100 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 00:0018.8N 121.7E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 06:0019.5N 121.2E80 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 12:0020.1N 120.7E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 18:0020.4N 120.2E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 00:0020.8N 119.7E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 06:0021.4N 119.5E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 12:0022.0N 119.4E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 18:0022.9N 119.0E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 00:0024.0N 118.4E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:0025.2N 117.7E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:0025.5N 117.5E15 kt1004 mbMixed
Oct 10, 18:0026.2N 117.1E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 11, 00:0027.0N 116.6E10 ktTropical storm

Other Western Pacific storms of 1973

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.