The 2003 season

Super Typhoon Kujira (2003)

Super Typhoon Kujira reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between April 8, 2003 and April 25, 2003, with a lowest pressure of 904 mb, and made landfall. It killed 2 people in the United States, by the National Weather Service’s record.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Kujira, 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.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
April 8, 2003 to April 25, 2003
Peak strength
Category 4, 135 kt (155 mph)
Lowest pressure
904 mb (26.70 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
46.2
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
170 nmi (315 km, 196 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
15 nmi (28 km, 17 mi)
Overall size
150 nmi (278 km, 173 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
40 kt (46 mph)
Identifier
WP022003

Radar at RODN as it neared land, Apr 24, 18:00 UTC

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

NOAA Storm Events

2 deaths (2 direct, 0 indirect)none recorded

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
2 (2 direct, 0 indirect)
Injuries
0
Property damage
none recorded
Crop damage
none recorded
Events recorded
1 in 1 reports from 1 states and marine areas

State by state

State or marine areaDeathsInjuriesDamageEvents
Guam201

What was recorded

1 tropical storm.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Apr 8, 06:002.6N 158.8E15 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Apr 8, 12:003.0N 159.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Apr 8, 18:003.4N 160.0E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Apr 9, 00:003.7N 160.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Apr 9, 06:004.1N 160.4E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 12:004.6N 160.6E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 18:005.4N 160.6E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 00:006.5N 160.4E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 06:007.5N 159.7E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 12:008.1N 159.0E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 18:008.6N 158.3E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 00:009.1N 157.6E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 06:009.6N 156.8E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 12:0010.0N 156.0E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 18:0010.2N 155.2E50 kt987 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 00:0010.2N 154.3E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 06:0010.2N 153.4E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 12:0010.2N 152.5E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 18:0010.1N 151.6E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Apr 13, 00:0010.1N 150.7E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Apr 13, 06:0010.2N 149.8E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Apr 13, 12:0010.2N 149.0E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Apr 13, 18:0010.3N 148.2E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Apr 14, 00:0010.4N 147.3E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Apr 14, 06:0010.6N 146.3E100 kt944 mbTyphoon
Apr 14, 12:0010.7N 145.2E110 kt933 mbTyphoon
Apr 14, 18:0011.1N 143.9E120 kt922 mbTyphoon
Apr 15, 00:0011.4N 142.5E125 kt916 mbTyphoon
Apr 15, 06:0011.9N 141.1E125 kt916 mbTyphoon
Apr 15, 12:0012.3N 139.6E125 kt916 mbTyphoon
Apr 15, 18:0012.6N 138.3E130 kt910 mbSuper typhoon
Apr 16, 00:0013.0N 137.0E135 kt904 mbSuper typhoon
Apr 16, 06:0013.4N 136.1E135 kt904 mbSuper typhoon
Apr 16, 12:0013.8N 135.2E130 kt910 mbSuper typhoon
Apr 16, 18:0014.0N 134.4E115 kt927 mbTyphoon
Apr 17, 00:0014.0N 133.6E115 kt938 mbTyphoon
Apr 17, 06:0013.7N 132.8E110 kt938 mbTyphoon
Apr 17, 12:0013.6N 132.0E105 kt938 mbTyphoon
Apr 17, 18:0013.5N 131.2E105 kt938 mbTyphoon
Apr 18, 00:0013.5N 130.6E115 kt927 mbTyphoon
Apr 18, 06:0013.5N 130.0E125 kt916 mbTyphoon
Apr 18, 12:0013.6N 129.5E125 kt916 mbTyphoon
Apr 18, 18:0013.9N 129.1E120 kt922 mbTyphoon
Apr 19, 00:0014.2N 128.7E115 kt927 mbTyphoon
Apr 19, 06:0014.7N 128.3E105 kt938 mbTyphoon
Apr 19, 12:0015.2N 127.8E95 kt949 mbTyphoon
Apr 19, 18:0015.7N 127.3E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Apr 20, 00:0016.2N 126.6E85 kt958 mbTyphoon
Apr 20, 06:0016.7N 126.1E95 kt949 mbTyphoon
Apr 20, 12:0017.2N 125.6E100 kt944 mbTyphoon
Apr 20, 18:0017.9N 125.1E100 kt944 mbTyphoon
Apr 21, 00:0018.4N 124.6E100 kt944 mbTyphoon
Apr 21, 06:0018.7N 124.3E95 kt949 mbTyphoon
Apr 21, 12:0019.2N 124.4E85 kt958 mbTyphoon
Apr 21, 18:0019.7N 124.0E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Apr 22, 00:0019.9N 123.5E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 06:0020.3N 123.2E50 kt987 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 12:0020.7N 123.3E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 18:0020.8N 122.9E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 00:0020.8N 122.5E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 06:0020.9N 122.4E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 12:0021.1N 122.4E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 18:0021.6N 122.5E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 24, 00:0022.1N 122.8E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 24, 06:0023.0N 123.2E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 24, 12:0024.8N 124.0E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 24, 18:0026.8N 125.4E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 25, 00:0029.0N 127.3E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 25, 06:0032.1N 130.1E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Apr 25, 12:0034.2N 134.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression

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.