The 1978 season

Hurricane Gilma (1978)

Hurricane Gilma reached Category 3 in the Eastern Pacific between July 13, 1978 and July 20, 1978.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Gilma, 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
Eastern Pacific
Dates
July 13, 1978 to July 20, 1978
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Landfall
No; closest approach 546 km (339 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
12.3
Fastest the center moved
16 kt (18 mph)
Identifier
EP071978

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
Jul 13, 00:0011.4N 99.5W30 ktTropical depression
Jul 13, 06:0011.0N 100.3W35 ktTropical storm
Jul 13, 12:0010.8N 101.1W35 ktTropical storm
Jul 13, 18:0010.5N 101.8W35 ktTropical storm
Jul 14, 00:0010.9N 102.8W35 ktTropical storm
Jul 14, 06:0010.9N 104.0W40 ktTropical storm
Jul 14, 12:0010.7N 105.3W45 ktTropical storm
Jul 14, 18:0011.3N 105.8W50 ktTropical storm
Jul 15, 00:0011.8N 106.7W60 ktTropical storm
Jul 15, 06:0012.7N 107.7W60 ktTropical storm
Jul 15, 12:0013.6N 108.7W60 ktTropical storm
Jul 15, 18:0014.8N 109.8W65 ktHurricane
Jul 16, 00:0014.8N 111.2W70 ktHurricane
Jul 16, 06:0014.9N 112.2W100 ktHurricane
Jul 16, 12:0015.0N 113.2W85 ktHurricane
Jul 16, 18:0015.7N 113.7W90 ktHurricane
Jul 17, 00:0016.3N 114.5W90 ktHurricane
Jul 17, 06:0016.2N 115.3W90 ktHurricane
Jul 17, 12:0016.3N 116.2W90 ktHurricane
Jul 17, 18:0016.8N 116.8W90 ktHurricane
Jul 18, 00:0017.7N 117.5W90 ktHurricane
Jul 18, 06:0018.0N 118.6W90 ktHurricane
Jul 18, 12:0018.4N 119.8W75 ktHurricane
Jul 18, 18:0019.0N 121.0W65 ktHurricane
Jul 19, 00:0019.9N 122.3W55 ktTropical storm
Jul 19, 06:0020.3N 123.8W60 ktTropical storm
Jul 19, 12:0020.7N 125.3W45 ktTropical storm
Jul 19, 18:0021.0N 126.8W25 ktTropical depression
Jul 20, 00:0021.6N 128.2W25 ktTropical depression

Other Eastern 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.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.