The 1983 season

Super Typhoon Marge (1983)

Super Typhoon Marge reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 26, 1983 and November 8, 1983, with a lowest pressure of 895 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Marge, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1983 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 26, 1983 to November 8, 1983
Peak strength
Category 5, 145 kt (167 mph)
Lowest pressure
895 mb (26.43 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 806 km (501 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
27.6
Identifier
WP181983

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 26, 00:007.0N 172.0EDisturbance
Oct 26, 06:006.8N 170.1EDisturbance
Oct 26, 12:006.5N 168.5EDisturbance
Oct 26, 18:006.2N 167.2EDisturbance
Oct 27, 00:005.9N 166.0EDisturbance
Oct 27, 06:005.7N 164.6EDisturbance
Oct 27, 12:005.4N 163.2EDisturbance
Oct 27, 18:005.0N 161.6EDisturbance
Oct 28, 00:004.7N 160.1EDisturbance
Oct 28, 06:004.5N 159.0EDisturbance
Oct 28, 12:004.4N 158.1EDisturbance
Oct 28, 18:004.4N 157.0EDisturbance
Oct 29, 00:004.4N 155.9EDisturbance
Oct 29, 06:004.5N 154.8EDisturbance
Oct 29, 12:004.7N 153.7EDisturbance
Oct 29, 18:005.1N 152.6EDisturbance
Oct 30, 00:005.7N 151.0EMixed
Oct 30, 06:006.3N 149.5EMixed
Oct 30, 12:006.3N 149.5E25 ktTropical storm
Oct 30, 18:007.3N 148.3E25 ktTropical storm
Oct 31, 00:008.2N 147.4E30 ktTropical storm
Oct 31, 06:009.7N 146.2E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 12:0010.4N 145.4E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 18:0010.7N 144.5E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 00:0011.2N 143.2E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 06:0011.8N 142.1E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 12:0012.8N 141.4E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 18:0013.6N 141.1E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 00:0014.5N 140.6E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 06:0015.3N 140.2E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 12:0016.2N 140.2E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 18:0016.6N 139.7E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 00:0017.0N 139.1E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 06:0017.3N 138.3E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 12:0017.6N 137.5E105 kt930 mbXX
Nov 3, 18:0017.9N 136.5E130 kt915 mbXX
Nov 4, 00:0018.2N 135.3E140 kt895 mbXX
Nov 4, 06:0018.3N 134.6E145 kt895 mbXX
Nov 4, 12:0018.7N 134.2E140 kt900 mbXX
Nov 4, 18:0019.2N 133.8E135 kt905 mbXX
Nov 5, 00:0019.8N 133.6E130 kt910 mbXX
Nov 5, 06:0020.3N 133.6E130 kt915 mbXX
Nov 5, 12:0021.2N 133.9E125 kt915 mbXX
Nov 5, 18:0021.8N 134.5E120 kt920 mbXX
Nov 6, 00:0022.7N 135.4E120 kt925 mbXX
Nov 6, 06:0023.9N 137.6E115 kt925 mbXX
Nov 6, 12:0025.4N 139.9E115 kt925 mbXX
Nov 6, 18:0027.9N 143.6E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 00:0031.2N 148.1E90 kt955 mbMixed
Nov 7, 06:0035.1N 153.2E75 kt960 mbMixed
Nov 7, 12:0037.9N 158.7E976 mbMixed
Nov 7, 18:0038.8N 164.2E986 mbExtratropical
Nov 8, 00:0039.0N 169.0E996 mbExtratropical
Nov 8, 06:0039.0N 174.0E996 mbExtratropical
Nov 8, 12:0039.0N 183.0EExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1983

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.