The 1977 season

Typhoon Mary (1977)

Typhoon Mary reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between December 18, 1977 and January 8, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 945 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Mary, 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.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
December 18, 1977 to January 8, 1978
Peak strength
Category 2, 95 kt (109 mph)
Lowest pressure
945 mb (27.91 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
15.1
Identifier
WP211977

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
Dec 18, 06:005.0N 171.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 12:006.0N 173.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 18:007.0N 175.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 00:008.0N 177.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 06:008.5N 177.5E1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 12:008.7N 177.7E1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 18:008.8N 178.0E1000 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 00:009.1N 178.3E996 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 06:009.7N 179.4E30 kt996 mbTropical depression
Dec 20, 12:0010.2N 179.7E30 kt994 mbTropical depression
Dec 20, 18:0010.3N 179.6E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 00:0010.3N 179.4E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 06:0010.1N 179.3E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 12:009.9N 178.8E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 18:009.7N 177.7E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 00:009.8N 176.6E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 06:0010.2N 175.5E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 12:0010.6N 174.5E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 18:0011.0N 173.7E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 00:0011.3N 172.9E70 kt975 mbTyphoon
Dec 23, 06:0011.6N 172.1E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Dec 23, 12:0011.9N 171.2E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Dec 23, 18:0012.2N 170.4E70 kt965 mbTyphoon
Dec 24, 00:0012.5N 169.9E75 kt965 mbTyphoon
Dec 24, 06:0012.9N 169.6E80 kt960 mbTyphoon
Dec 24, 12:0013.1N 169.4E85 kt955 mbTyphoon
Dec 24, 18:0012.8N 169.3E85 kt950 mbTyphoon
Dec 25, 00:0012.3N 169.2E90 kt945 mbTyphoon
Dec 25, 06:0011.9N 169.1E90 kt945 mbTyphoon
Dec 25, 12:0011.5N 168.8E95 kt955 mbTyphoon
Dec 25, 18:0011.0N 168.2E80 kt960 mbTyphoon
Dec 26, 00:0010.4N 167.2E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 26, 06:009.9N 166.2E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 26, 12:009.4N 164.9E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 26, 18:009.0N 163.2E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 27, 00:008.8N 161.3E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 27, 06:008.9N 159.4E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 27, 12:009.0N 157.5E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 27, 18:009.2N 155.6E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 00:009.4N 153.7E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 06:0010.1N 151.9E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 12:0010.9N 150.2E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 18:0011.2N 149.2E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 00:0011.3N 148.3E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 06:0011.3N 146.9E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 12:0011.1N 145.5E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 18:0010.7N 144.1E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 30, 00:0010.4N 142.8E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 30, 06:0010.3N 141.5E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 30, 12:0010.2N 140.2E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 30, 18:0010.1N 138.8E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 31, 00:009.9N 137.4E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 31, 06:009.3N 136.0E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Dec 31, 12:008.9N 134.6E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Dec 31, 18:009.1N 133.3E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 1, 00:009.4N 131.9E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 1, 06:009.8N 130.4E30 kt992 mbTropical depression
Jan 1, 12:0010.1N 128.9E30 kt992 mbTropical depression
Jan 1, 18:0010.1N 127.4E30 kt992 mbTropical depression
Jan 2, 00:0010.0N 125.9E30 kt998 mbTropical depression
Jan 2, 06:0010.2N 124.7E30 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Jan 2, 12:0010.4N 124.1E30 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Jan 2, 18:0010.0N 123.9E25 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Jan 3, 00:009.3N 123.9E20 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Jan 3, 06:008.4N 123.9E20 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Jan 3, 12:007.4N 124.0E20 kt1012 mbTropical depression
Jan 3, 18:006.3N 122.7E20 ktTropical depression
Jan 4, 00:006.0N 120.5ETropical storm
Jan 4, 06:005.8N 118.9ETropical storm
Jan 4, 12:005.5N 117.5ETropical storm
Jan 4, 18:004.8N 116.2ETropical storm
Jan 5, 00:004.0N 115.1ETropical storm
Jan 5, 06:003.5N 114.4ETropical storm
Jan 5, 12:003.0N 114.0ETropical storm
Jan 5, 18:002.4N 113.5ETropical storm
Jan 6, 00:002.0N 113.0ETropical storm
Jan 6, 06:001.9N 112.5ETropical storm
Jan 6, 12:001.9N 112.0ETropical storm
Jan 6, 18:001.9N 111.6ETropical storm
Jan 7, 00:002.0N 111.0ETropical storm
Jan 7, 06:001.9N 110.0ETropical storm
Jan 7, 12:002.0N 109.0ETropical storm
Jan 7, 18:002.4N 108.3ETropical storm
Jan 8, 00:003.1N 107.9ETropical storm

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.