The 1974 season

Typhoon Polly (1974)

Typhoon Polly reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between August 24, 1974 and September 8, 1974, with a lowest pressure of 950 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Polly, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1974 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
August 24, 1974 to September 8, 1974
Peak strength
Category 2, 95 kt (109 mph)
Lowest pressure
950 mb (28.05 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
16.8
Identifier
WP181974

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
Aug 24, 00:0018.2N 153.8E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 06:0017.9N 153.0E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 12:0017.6N 152.2E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 18:0017.3N 151.4E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 00:0017.1N 150.6E25 kt1008 mbMixed
Aug 25, 06:0016.8N 149.6E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 12:0016.4N 148.7E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 18:0015.8N 147.7E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 00:0015.6N 146.5E30 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 06:0015.5N 146.8E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 12:0015.6N 146.4E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 18:0015.8N 146.3E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 00:0016.2N 146.0E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 06:0016.7N 145.6E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 12:0017.7N 144.9E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0018.8N 144.2E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0019.8N 143.3E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 06:0020.7N 142.5E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 12:0021.7N 141.8E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 18:0022.7N 141.5E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 00:0023.7N 141.2E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 06:0025.0N 141.2E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 12:0026.1N 141.2E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 18:0027.3N 140.7E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 00:0028.4N 140.1E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 06:0029.3N 139.5E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 12:0029.9N 138.6E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0030.4N 137.6E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 00:0030.8N 136.6E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 06:0030.8N 135.7E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 12:0030.9N 134.7E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 18:0031.2N 134.0E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 00:0031.8N 133.6E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 06:0032.5N 133.5E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 12:0034.0N 133.0E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 18:0036.0N 132.4E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 00:0037.7N 132.5E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 06:0039.5N 132.9E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 12:0041.0N 133.2E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 18:0042.5N 134.1E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 00:0043.2N 134.8E30 kt988 mbMixed
Sep 3, 06:0043.7N 135.3E30 kt988 mbMixed
Sep 3, 12:0043.9N 136.2E30 kt992 mbMixed
Sep 3, 18:0044.0N 137.1E25 kt994 mbMixed
Sep 4, 00:0044.0N 138.0E20 kt1000 mbMixed
Sep 4, 06:0044.1N 139.1E20 kt1000 mbMixed
Sep 4, 12:0044.1N 140.2E20 kt1002 mbMixed
Sep 4, 18:0044.0N 141.9E20 kt1002 mbMixed
Sep 5, 00:0044.0N 143.1E20 kt1002 mbMixed
Sep 5, 06:0043.6N 146.0E25 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0043.0N 150.0E25 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0043.0N 154.5E25 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0043.0N 159.0E25 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 06:0043.5N 161.5E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0044.0N 164.0E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 18:0044.5N 166.0E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 00:0045.0N 168.0E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 06:0045.0N 170.0E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 12:0045.0N 172.0E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 18:0045.0N 173.5E25 ktTropical storm
Sep 8, 00:0045.0N 175.0E25 ktTropical storm
Sep 8, 06:0045.0N 177.0E25 ktTropical storm
Sep 8, 12:0045.0N 179.0E30 ktTropical storm

Other Western Pacific storms of 1974

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.