1973 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Patsy 1973
Typhoon Patsy followed Nora toward the Philippines in October 1973. It reached Category 5 strength over water, then weakened substantially before crossing northern Luzon and continuing toward Vietnam.
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161 mph
Oct 10, 1973 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
An intense offshore peak
Patsy's archived track begins near Guam on 5 October. The storm intensified over the western Pacific, reaching peak one-minute winds of 140 kt and a minimum central pressure of 895 hPa on 10 October.
The approach to the Philippines brought a sharp decline in intensity. By the time Patsy crossed northern Luzon, it had weakened to a tropical storm. Its arrival came only days after Nora had affected the same broad region.
Weakening toward Vietnam
Patsy continued west across the South China Sea as a weakening tropical depression. The remaining circulation moved toward Vietnam, and the archived track ends on 15 October. Its strongest winds had occurred several days earlier over the Pacific, before the Philippine crossing.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Patsy in brief
What was Typhoon Patsy's highest wind speed?
161 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Oct 10, 1973, 12:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Patsy?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Oct 10, 1973, 12:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Patsy's lowest pressure?
895 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Oct 10, 1973, 12:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Patsy occur?
The archived track runs from Oct 5, 1973, 12:00 AM UTC to Oct 15, 1973, 12:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Oct 5, 1973, 12:00 AM UTC to Oct 15, 1973, 03:00 AM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Patsy form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1973 season. Its first archived position is 13.1°N, 144°E on Oct 5, 1973, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Patsy make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is an unrecorded wind on Oct 15, 1973, 03:00 AM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology