The 2003 season

Typhoon Choi-Wan (2003)

Typhoon Choi-Wan reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between September 16, 2003 and September 24, 2003, with a lowest pressure of 944 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Choi-Wan, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2003 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
September 16, 2003 to September 24, 2003
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
944 mb (27.88 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 201 km (125 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.2
Identifier
WP162003

Radar at RODN as it neared land, Sep 19, 06:00 UTC

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 16, 00:0013.1N 133.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 06:0014.0N 130.2E1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0014.8N 128.4E1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0015.2N 128.1E1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0015.8N 127.6E1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0019.4N 130.4E15 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 17, 12:0020.0N 129.8E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Sep 17, 18:0020.7N 129.2E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Sep 18, 00:0021.4N 128.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Sep 18, 06:0021.7N 127.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Sep 18, 12:0022.7N 127.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Sep 18, 18:0023.7N 127.5E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0024.9N 127.7E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0026.0N 128.0E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0027.0N 128.2E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 18:0027.8N 128.8E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Sep 20, 00:0028.4N 129.7E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Sep 20, 06:0028.8N 130.7E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Sep 20, 12:0029.0N 132.1E70 kt972 mbTyphoon
Sep 20, 18:0029.4N 133.7E70 kt972 mbTyphoon
Sep 21, 00:0030.0N 135.6E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 21, 06:0031.1N 137.2E100 kt944 mbTyphoon
Sep 21, 12:0032.1N 139.0E100 kt944 mbTyphoon
Sep 21, 18:0033.2N 140.8E100 kt944 mbTyphoon
Sep 22, 00:0034.4N 142.8E95 kt949 mbTyphoon
Sep 22, 06:0035.9N 145.0E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 22, 12:0037.5N 147.7E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Sep 22, 18:0039.4N 151.1E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Sep 23, 00:0042.1N 156.5E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 06:0043.4N 164.3E1000 mbMixed
Sep 23, 12:0045.3N 171.6E1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 23, 18:0046.0N 178.7E996 mbExtratropical
Sep 24, 00:0047.0N 184.5EExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 2003

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.