The 2009 season

Typhoon Ketsana (2009)

Typhoon Ketsana reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between September 25, 2009 and September 30, 2009, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Ketsana, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2009 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
September 25, 2009 to September 30, 2009
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.5
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
155 nmi (287 km, 178 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached
40 nmi (74 km, 46 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
15 nmi (28 km, 17 mi)
Overall size
465 nmi (861 km, 535 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
16 kt (18 mph)
Identifier
WP172009

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 25, 00:0014.3N 128.8E15 kt1010 mbDisturbance
Sep 25, 06:0014.2N 127.4E20 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Sep 25, 12:0015.2N 125.8E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Sep 25, 18:0015.7N 124.3E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Sep 26, 00:0015.6N 122.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 06:0015.6N 121.3E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 12:0015.7N 119.6E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 18:0015.4N 117.9E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 00:0015.2N 116.5E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 06:0015.4N 115.4E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 12:0015.6N 114.4E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 18:0015.7N 113.5E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 00:0015.8N 112.7E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Sep 28, 06:0015.9N 111.9E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Sep 28, 12:0015.9N 111.2E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Sep 28, 18:0015.8N 110.5E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Sep 29, 00:0015.6N 109.8E90 kt955 mbTyphoon
Sep 29, 06:0015.4N 108.9E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Sep 29, 12:0015.1N 108.1E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 18:0014.8N 107.8E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Sep 30, 00:0015.4N 106.8E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 06:0015.4N 106.5E998 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 12:0015.2N 105.7E1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 18:0015.1N 105.0E1002 mbMixed

Other Western Pacific storms of 2009

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.