Super Typhoon Pongsona (2002)
Super Typhoon Pongsona reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between December 1, 2002 and December 11, 2002, with a lowest pressure of 910 mb. It killed 1 people in the United States, by the National Weather Service’s record.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Super Typhoon Pongsona, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2002 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- Western Pacific
- Dates
- December 1, 2002 to December 11, 2002
- Peak strength
- Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 910 mb (26.87 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 1317 km (818 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 25.7
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 130 nmi (241 km, 150 mi) from the center at its widest
- Overall size
- 160 nmi (296 km, 184 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Fastest the center moved
- 46 kt (53 mph)
- Identifier
- WP312002
Deaths and damage
The sources count different things and are not added together.
NOAA Storm Events
1 deaths (1 direct, 0 indirect)$175 million
What National Weather Service offices recorded county by county in 1 states and marine areas, in the United States only. Property and crop damage as each office estimated it, which is not a national loss total.
In the United States
NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.
- Deaths
- 1 (1 direct, 0 indirect)
- Injuries
- 316
- Property damage
- $175 million
- Crop damage
- none recorded
- Events recorded
- 4 in 1 reports from 1 states and marine areas
State by state
| State or marine area | Deaths | Injuries | Damage | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guam | 1 | 316 | $175 million | 4 |
What was recorded
4 hurricane (typhoon).
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 06:00 | 5.2N 166.1E | 15 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 1, 12:00 | 5.5N 165.8E | 15 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 1, 18:00 | 5.8N 165.5E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 2, 00:00 | 6.2N 165.0E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 2, 06:00 | 6.7N 164.5E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 2, 12:00 | 7.2N 164.0E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 2, 18:00 | 8.0N 163.4E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 3, 00:00 | 8.6N 162.8E | 35 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 3, 06:00 | 8.9N 162.1E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 3, 12:00 | 8.9N 161.2E | 40 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 3, 18:00 | 8.8N 160.5E | 45 kt | 991 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 4, 00:00 | 8.5N 159.9E | 45 kt | 991 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 4, 06:00 | 8.4N 159.5E | 50 kt | 987 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 4, 12:00 | 8.4N 159.0E | 50 kt | 987 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 4, 18:00 | 8.4N 157.9E | 55 kt | 984 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 5, 00:00 | 8.4N 156.8E | 60 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 5, 06:00 | 8.4N 155.8E | 65 kt | 976 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 5, 12:00 | 8.5N 154.9E | 70 kt | 972 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 5, 18:00 | 8.8N 153.9E | 70 kt | 972 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 6, 00:00 | 9.0N 152.9E | 75 kt | 967 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 6, 06:00 | 9.2N 151.9E | 80 kt | 963 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 6, 12:00 | 9.3N 151.0E | 85 kt | 958 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 6, 18:00 | 9.8N 150.0E | 90 kt | 954 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 7, 00:00 | 10.3N 149.1E | 95 kt | 949 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 7, 06:00 | 10.8N 148.1E | 100 kt | 944 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 7, 12:00 | 11.3N 147.2E | 105 kt | 938 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 7, 18:00 | 12.0N 146.2E | 110 kt | 933 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 8, 00:00 | 12.6N 145.6E | 120 kt | 922 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 8, 06:00 | 13.5N 145.1E | 130 kt | 910 mb | Super typhoon |
| Dec 8, 12:00 | 14.3N 144.7E | 130 kt | 910 mb | Super typhoon |
| Dec 8, 18:00 | 15.2N 144.2E | 125 kt | 916 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 9, 00:00 | 16.1N 143.8E | 125 kt | 916 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 9, 06:00 | 17.0N 143.7E | 125 kt | 916 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 9, 12:00 | 18.1N 143.6E | 115 kt | 927 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 9, 18:00 | 19.2N 144.2E | 110 kt | 933 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 10, 00:00 | 20.6N 145.8E | 110 kt | 933 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 10, 06:00 | 22.4N 147.7E | 85 kt | 958 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 10, 12:00 | 24.2N 150.3E | 75 kt | 967 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 10, 18:00 | 25.4N 153.3E | 70 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 11, 00:00 | 27.6N 157.0E | 55 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 11, 06:00 | 29.0N 160.0E | 996 mb | Mixed | |
| Dec 11, 12:00 | 30.3N 164.5E | 1004 mb | Extratropical | |
| Dec 11, 18:00 | 32.5N 169.2E | 1006 mb | Extratropical |
Other Western Pacific storms of 2002
- Tropical Storm TapahWestern Pacific · 2002
- Super Typhoon MitagWestern Pacific · 2002
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 2002
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 2002
- Super Typhoon HagibisWestern Pacific · 2002
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 2002
- Typhoon NoguriWestern Pacific · 2002
- Typhoon RammasunWestern Pacific · 2002
- Super Typhoon ChataanWestern Pacific · 2002
- Super Typhoon HalongWestern Pacific · 2002
- Tropical Storm NakriWestern Pacific · 2002
- Super Typhoon FengshenWestern Pacific · 2002
- Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 2002
- Typhoon Fung-WongWestern Pacific · 2002
- Tropical Storm KammuriWestern Pacific · 2002
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 2002
- Super Typhoon PhanfoneWestern Pacific · 2002
- Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 2002
- Tropical Storm VongfongWestern Pacific · 2002
- Typhoon RusaWestern Pacific · 2002
- Typhoon SinlakuWestern Pacific · 2002
- Tropical Storm HagupitWestern Pacific · 2002
- Tropical Storm ChangmiWestern Pacific · 2002
- Tropical Storm MekkhalaWestern Pacific · 2002
- Super Typhoon HigosWestern Pacific · 2002
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 2002
- Typhoon BaviWestern Pacific · 2002
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 2002
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 2002
- Typhoon MaysakWestern Pacific · 2002
- Typhoon HaishenWestern Pacific · 2002
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.