The 1938 season

Unnamed tropical depression (1938)

Unnamed tropical depression peaked at unknown kt in the South Pacific between March 23, 1938 and March 31, 1938, with a lowest pressure of 992 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed tropical depression, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1938 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
South Pacific
Dates
March 23, 1938 to March 31, 1938
Peak strength
Tropical Depression
Lowest pressure
992 mb (29.29 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 144 km (89 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
0.0
Identifier
1938082S15159

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Mar 23, 00:0015.0S 158.5ETropical storm
Mar 23, 06:0015.5S 157.6ETropical storm
Mar 23, 12:0015.9S 156.7ETropical storm
Mar 23, 18:0016.3S 155.9ETropical storm
Mar 24, 00:0016.6S 155.2ETropical storm
Mar 24, 06:0016.9S 154.7ETropical storm
Mar 24, 12:0017.2S 154.2ETropical storm
Mar 24, 18:0017.4S 153.8ETropical storm
Mar 25, 00:0017.6S 153.4ETropical storm
Mar 25, 06:0017.8S 152.9ETropical storm
Mar 25, 12:0018.1S 152.4ETropical storm
Mar 25, 18:0018.3S 151.9ETropical storm
Mar 26, 00:0018.6S 151.5ETropical storm
Mar 26, 06:0018.8S 151.1ETropical storm
Mar 26, 12:0019.1S 150.8ETropical storm
Mar 26, 18:0019.3S 150.6ETropical storm
Mar 27, 00:0019.6S 150.4ETropical storm
Mar 27, 06:0019.9S 150.3ETropical storm
Mar 27, 12:0020.2S 150.3ETropical storm
Mar 27, 18:0020.5S 150.5ETropical storm
Mar 28, 00:0020.7S 150.8ETropical storm
Mar 28, 06:0020.9S 151.0ETropical storm
Mar 28, 12:0021.1S 151.2ETropical storm
Mar 28, 18:0021.3S 151.5ETropical storm
Mar 29, 00:0021.6S 152.0ETropical storm
Mar 29, 06:0021.9S 152.5ETropical storm
Mar 29, 12:0022.3S 153.0ETropical storm
Mar 29, 18:0022.7S 153.6ETropical storm
Mar 30, 00:0023.2S 154.1ETropical storm
Mar 30, 06:0023.8S 154.7ETropical storm
Mar 30, 12:0024.5S 155.1ETropical storm
Mar 30, 18:0025.2S 155.4ETropical storm
Mar 31, 00:0025.9S 155.7ETropical storm
Mar 31, 06:0026.4S 156.2ENot reported
Mar 31, 12:0027.0S 156.9ENot reported
Mar 31, 18:0027.5S 157.7ENot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1938

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.