The 1953 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1953, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.
The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the International Date Line. Storms that form east of the date line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see 1953 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Storms formed in the entire west Pacific basin were assigned a name by the Fleet Weather Center on Guam.
Irma formed on February 18, just near the International Date Line. The storm moved west over the following days, slowly increasing its speed before reaching its peak intensity on February 23. The storm quickly lost speed, then made landfall over the Visayas archipelago of the Philippines. On December 25, the storm dissipated just near the province of Iloilo.[1]
Judy formed on May 28, to the east of the Philippines. The next day, the storm started moving west, then later moving northwest. Over the following days, the storm moved northwest, albeit curving. On June 4, the typhoon hit the Philippines, reaching its peak intensity in Luzon. The storm later curved north, skirting Taiwan. The storm started losing speed, then increased speed on June 6. The storm later curved north, directly hitting Japan. Later dissipating the next day.[2]
Judy damaged multiple areas in Japan, causing 37 deaths, 17 injuries, and leading 56 people missing. The storm also destroyed 1802 houses, inundated another 33 thousand, and damaged 139 ships.[3][4]
04W formed on June 21. The storm moved northwest, making landfall in the Philippines on June 25, reaching its peak intensity. On June 26, the storm quickly curved north and then quickly moved south the same day. A few days later, the storm made landfall in Hainan and later Mainland China.[5]
On June 25, Kit formed just south of the Philippines. Over the following days, the storm traverses west, then later northwest, having peak intensity on June 29. Kit later starts decreasing speed on July 1, then made landfall in Taiwan on July 3. The next day, Kit settles in China, curving north. The storm stayed in China over the following days, then made landfall on the Korea peninsula on July 5. The storm later makes landfall in Japan on July 7, then dissipated the following day.[6]
Because of the storm, strong winds were recorded in Batanes, with widespread precipitation.[7] Other than rain, Kit destroyed a ship and damaged another.[8]
Typhoon Lola
On July 23, Lola spawned southeast of Japan. The typhoon curved northwest before differing between north and west. The storm then drifted north before curving northeast and dissipating shortly after on August 3.[9]
A rare late-season Super Typhoon. Doris did not affect land, but caused nine fatalities when a USAF PB4Y-2 disappeared during a flight into the typhoon.[12]