The 1977 season

Tropical Storm Emma (1977)

Tropical Storm Emma peaked at 60 kt in the Western Pacific between September 12, 1977 and September 21, 1977, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Emma, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1977 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
September 12, 1977 to September 21, 1977
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 60 kt (69 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 91 km (57 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.2
Identifier
WP131977

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
Sep 12, 06:0015.0N 144.5E1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 12:0015.6N 144.5E1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 18:0016.1N 144.5E1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 00:0014.0N 145.0E1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 06:0014.5N 144.6E1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0015.0N 144.2E998 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0015.7N 143.9E996 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0017.1N 143.7E996 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0018.2N 143.0E992 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0019.0N 142.5E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 18:0019.5N 142.5E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0020.3N 142.7E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 06:0021.2N 143.4E40 kt980 mbTropical depression
Sep 15, 12:0022.4N 143.8E40 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 18:0023.7N 144.1E40 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 00:0024.8N 144.3E45 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 06:0025.7N 144.3E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0026.4N 144.3E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0026.9N 144.3E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0027.3N 144.4E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0028.2N 144.5E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0029.0N 144.3E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0029.1N 143.6E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0029.1N 142.7E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0029.3N 141.8E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0029.9N 140.9E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0031.0N 140.3E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0032.4N 140.2E45 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0033.8N 140.9E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0035.3N 142.2E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 18:0037.2N 143.9E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 00:0039.5N 146.0E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 06:0042.6N 149.2E35 kt980 mbTropical depression
Sep 20, 12:0044.6N 150.7E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 18:0047.3N 155.1E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 00:0050.0N 160.0E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 06:0055.0N 164.0E988 mbMixed
Sep 21, 12:0058.0N 165.0E988 mbMixed
Sep 21, 18:0059.0N 168.0E992 mbExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1977

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.