The 1973 season

Super Typhoon Patsy (1973)

Super Typhoon Patsy reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 5, 1973 and October 15, 1973, with a lowest pressure of 895 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Patsy, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
October 5, 1973 to October 15, 1973
Peak strength
Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
Lowest pressure
895 mb (26.43 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
16.6
Identifier
WP191973

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 5, 00:0013.1N 144.0E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 06:0012.9N 143.5E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 12:0012.6N 143.1E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 18:0012.5N 142.6E1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 00:0012.9N 142.4E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 06:0012.9N 142.1E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 12:0012.9N 141.9E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 18:0012.9N 141.7E30 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 00:0012.9N 141.4E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 06:0013.4N 140.8E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 12:0013.8N 140.4E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 18:0013.9N 139.5E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 00:0014.1N 138.8E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 06:0014.2N 138.2E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 12:0014.5N 137.5E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 18:0014.7N 136.9E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 00:0015.1N 135.9E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 06:0015.3N 134.8E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 12:0015.5N 133.7E110 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 18:0015.7N 132.8E125 kt910 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 00:0015.9N 131.7E140 kt895 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:0016.2N 130.6E140 kt910 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:0016.4N 129.4E120 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 18:0016.7N 128.1E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 00:0016.9N 126.7E95 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 06:0017.1N 125.4E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 12:0017.5N 124.4E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 18:0018.1N 123.6E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 00:0018.6N 122.5E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 06:0018.7N 120.6E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 12:0018.0N 118.0E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 18:0018.0N 116.5E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 00:0018.0N 114.9E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0017.8N 113.4E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0017.5N 112.1E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0017.2N 111.0E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:0017.0N 109.9E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:0017.0N 109.6E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0017.0N 109.3E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0016.8N 108.9E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0016.5N 108.5E15 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0015.1N 107.6EMixed
Oct 15, 12:0013.8N 107.5EDisturbance

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.