Tropical Storm Amelia (1978)
Tropical Storm Amelia peaked at 45 kt in the North Atlantic between July 30, 1978 and August 1, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 1005 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Amelia, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1978 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- July 30, 1978 to August 1, 1978
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 45 kt (52 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 1005 mb (29.68 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 0.5
- Fastest the center moved
- 9 kt (10 mph)
- Identifier
- AL041978
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.
Rainfall
The Weather Prediction Center attributes 571 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 48.00 inches (1219 mm).
| Station | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|
| MEDINA | 48.00 in (1219 mm) | 29.80N 99.26W |
| ALBANY | 30.25 in (768 mm) | 32.72N 99.30W |
| WORLDS END RANCH | 23.10 in (587 mm) | 29.97N 99.43W |
| HUNT 3 SW | 19.50 in (495 mm) | 30.03N 99.37W |
| KERRVILLE 3 NNE | 16.67 in (423 mm) | 30.07N 99.12W |
| HASKELL | 15.65 in (398 mm) | 33.15N 99.75W |
| NELSON RANCH | 14.53 in (369 mm) | 29.95N 99.52W |
| COTTONWOOD | 14.45 in (367 mm) | 30.17N 99.13W |
| HARPER 1W | 12.94 in (329 mm) | 30.30N 99.25W |
| LAWN | 12.82 in (326 mm) | 32.13N 99.75W |
| VANDERPOOL | 12.65 in (321 mm) | 29.75N 99.57W |
| BAIRD | 12.37 in (314 mm) | 32.40N 99.40W |
WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 18:00 | 25.7N 97.0W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Jul 31, 00:00 | 26.4N 97.4W | 45 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jul 31, 06:00 | 27.2N 97.8W | 40 kt | 1007 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jul 31, 12:00 | 28.0N 98.2W | 35 kt | 1008 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jul 31, 18:00 | 28.6N 98.7W | 30 kt | 1010 mb | Tropical depression |
| Aug 1, 00:00 | 29.3N 99.2W | 25 kt | 1010 mb | Tropical depression |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1978
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Tropical Storm BessNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Hurricane CoraNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Tropical Storm DebraNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Hurricane EllaNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Hurricane FlossieNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Tropical Storm HopeNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Hurricane Greta:OliviaNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Tropical Storm IrmaNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Tropical Storm JulietNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Hurricane KendraNorth Atlantic · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1978
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.
The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.