The 1978 season

Typhoon Irma (1978)

Typhoon Irma reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between September 9, 1978 and September 16, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 970 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Irma, 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
Western Pacific
Dates
September 9, 1978 to September 16, 1978
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
970 mb (28.64 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.8
Identifier
WP181978

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 9, 12:0021.0N 123.8E20 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 9, 18:0021.2N 123.2E20 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 10, 00:0021.4N 122.8E20 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 10, 06:0021.5N 122.5E20 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 10, 12:0021.5N 122.2E20 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Sep 10, 18:0021.6N 121.9E20 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Sep 11, 00:0021.8N 121.8E25 kt998 mbTropical depression
Sep 11, 06:0022.4N 122.0E25 kt998 mbTropical depression
Sep 11, 12:0023.2N 122.3E30 kt998 mbTropical depression
Sep 11, 18:0024.1N 122.4E30 kt994 mbTropical depression
Sep 12, 00:0024.9N 122.6E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 06:0025.4N 123.0E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 12:0025.9N 123.5E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 18:0026.6N 123.4E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 00:0027.3N 123.4E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 06:0027.8N 123.7E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0028.3N 124.0E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0029.1N 124.3E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0030.0N 124.7E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0030.7N 125.3E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0031.5N 126.1E65 kt975 mbTyphoon
Sep 14, 18:0032.3N 127.3E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0033.1N 128.8E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 06:0033.9N 130.7E40 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 12:0034.7N 133.0E30 kt992 mbTropical depression
Sep 15, 18:0034.9N 135.0E20 kt998 mbTropical depression
Sep 16, 00:0035.4N 136.8EMixed

Other Western 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.