The 1978 season

Tropical Storm Anne (1978)

Tropical Storm Anne peaked at 55 kt in the South Pacific between December 23, 1977 and December 31, 1977, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Anne, 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.

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The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
December 23, 1977 to December 31, 1977
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 55 kt (63 mph)
Lowest pressure
980 mb (28.94 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
4.8
Identifier
SH081978

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 23, 00:0011.0S 183.5E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Dec 23, 06:0011.8S 183.0ENot reported
Dec 23, 12:0011.8S 176.5W35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 18:0012.5S 177.6W40 ktTropical storm
Dec 24, 00:0013.3S 178.5W40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 06:0014.2S 179.3W45 ktTropical storm
Dec 24, 12:0015.0S 179.8W45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 18:0015.5S 179.9E45 ktTropical storm
Dec 25, 00:0016.0S 179.9E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 25, 06:0016.5S 180.0E50 ktTropical storm
Dec 25, 12:0017.0S 179.8W50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 25, 18:0017.3S 179.5W50 ktTropical storm
Dec 26, 00:0017.5S 179.0W50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 26, 06:0018.0S 177.8W55 ktTropical storm
Dec 26, 12:0018.5S 176.5W55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 26, 18:0018.8S 175.8W55 ktTropical storm
Dec 27, 00:0019.1S 175.0W50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 27, 06:0019.6S 173.8W50 ktTropical storm
Dec 27, 12:0020.1S 172.5W45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 27, 18:0020.6S 171.3W45 ktTropical storm
Dec 28, 00:0021.1S 170.0W40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 06:0021.9S 168.5W40 ktTropical storm
Dec 28, 12:0023.0S 166.8W40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 18:0024.0S 165.4W35 ktTropical storm
Dec 29, 00:0025.0S 164.0W35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 06:0026.9S 161.6WTropical storm
Dec 29, 12:0030.0S 158.0W30 kt997 mbMixed
Dec 29, 18:0030.9S 201.6ENot reported
Dec 30, 00:0034.0S 204.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Dec 30, 06:0037.2S 206.1ENot reported
Dec 30, 12:0040.0S 207.5E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Dec 30, 18:0042.1S 208.0ENot reported
Dec 31, 00:0043.5S 208.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Dec 31, 06:0044.2S 208.0ENot reported
Dec 31, 12:0044.5S 208.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 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.