Typhoon Hester was a severe

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

that formed in the

1952 Pacific typhoon season The 1952 Pacific typhoon season had no official bounds, 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 fo ...

and continued into January 1953. As the twenty-ninth storm and twentieth typhoon of the season, it was first tracked by

Joint Typhoon Warning Center The Joint typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...

(JTWC) near the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

as a

tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

on December 27. Hester quickly became a typhoon and

rapidly intensified In meteorology, rapid intensification is a situation where a tropical cyclone intensifies dramatically in a short period of time. The United States National Hurricane Center defines rapid intensification as an increase in the maximum sustained wi ...

. Near the end of the year, Hester became a Category 5 typhoon on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale south of

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. The typhoon soon weakened quickly as it curved eastward and sped up. It weakened into a tropical storm on January 4, and JTWC ceased tracking it hours later. In preparations for the storm, shelters were opened in Guam, and all government buildings and businesses were closed. In Marshall Islands,

Enewetak Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

experienced significant flooding, and buildings were damaged by the wind. Eighteen people were injured on the island. In Guam, the only damages reported were destroyed crops due to waves and washed out roads. There were no fatalities caused by the storm.

Meteorological history

Hester was first tracked by the JTWC and the

Japan Meteorological Agency The , abbreviated JMA, is an agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It is charged with gathering and providing results for the public in Japan that are obtained from data based on daily scientific observation an ...

(JMA) at 1800 UTC of December 27, 1952. According to JTWC, the storm was located southeast of

Majuro Majuro (; Marshallese: ' ) is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The ato ...

, and had winds of . JMA located the storm south of

Ebeye Ebeye ( ; Marshallese: , or in older orthography, ; locally, , , after the English pronunciation) is the most populous island of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, as well as the center for Marshallese culture in the Ralik Chain of the arc ...

, as a tropical depression with a surface pressure of , and upgraded it to a tropical storm six hours later at 0000 UTC of December 28. JTWC upgraded the storm to a typhoon at the same time, with winds of . On the next day, Hester strengthened to west of Marshall Islands. The storm began to rapidly intensify, as it moved north of the

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...

. At 0000 UTC of December 30, Hester became a Category 5 typhoon on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, with winds up to . It soon peaked in intensity on the next day at 1200 UTC, just south of the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

. The storm had winds at 185 mph (295 km/h) and began to turn northwest. On

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, the JMA recorded Hester's lowest pressure of . Hester began to weaken later that day, with winds down to . By 0600 UTC of January 2, the winds lowered down to , equivalent of a Category 4 typhoon. Hester began to curve eastward and weaken rapidly. On January 3, Hester continued to weaken to , and eighteen hours later, it was down to . It soon became a tropical storm on January 4, and soon dropped to a tropical depression later that day. JTWC ceased tracking the storm near

Minami-Tori-shima , also known as Marcus Island, is an isolated Japanese coral atoll in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, located some southeast of Tokyo and east of the closest Japanese island, South Iwo Jima of the Ogasawara Islands, and nearly on a straight li ...

. JMA downgraded the system to a tropical depression at 1200 UTC of January 5, and declared it

extratropical Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...

twelve hours later. At 0600 UTC of January 6, JMA stopped tracking the cyclone northeast of

Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of To ...

Preparations and impact

In Guam, underground shelters were open to residents, and hospitals were evacuated by December 31. All government offices and businesses were closed on the island.

Roadblock A roadblock is a temporary installation set up to control or block traffic along a road. The reasons for one could be: *Roadworks *Temporary road closure during special events * Police chase *Robbery *Sobriety checkpoint In peaceful circumstances ...

s were placed by the police to keep vehicles off the road. A gale alert was issued for the

. Due to the storm, a

Pan American Pan-American, Pan American, Panamerican, Pan-America, Pan America or Panamerica may refer to: * Collectively, the Americas: North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean * Something of, from, or related to the Americas * Pan-Amer ...

flight flew directly from

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

instead of stopping at Guam. Four days later, shipping was warned for the area southeast of

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

, as Hester approached the area. The northwest quadrant of Hester passed over

at in Marshall Islands Time ( UTC) on December 28, 1952. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

estimated that Hester generated winds around , and generated waves up to high on Enewetak. There were no direct reports on the island, where it was mostly underwater when the storm passed it. The hospital,

mess hall The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

s, and clubs were damaged by the winds. Tents on the island were also destroyed. A

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

LORAN LORAN, short for long range navigation, was a hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order to provide an improved range u ...

station on the island suffered extensive damage. Overall, eighteen people were injured on Enewetak, and there were no fatalities. The nearby atoll of Ujelang, received stronger winds than Enewetak, as it was closer to the center of Hester. Hester passed south of Guam by , and no damage to military facilities were reported. Storm surge reached inland, to about above sea level. The only damage reported were crops being lashed by the waves on the south side of the island, and a new section of highway near Ylig River was washed away. Two shore wave recorders installed by the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, located in Tarague Beach and Ylig River, were destroyed. There were no casualties on the island.

Meteorological history

Preparations and impact

See also

References

Further reading