The 1978 season

Typhoon Judy (1978)

Typhoon Judy reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between September 9, 1978 and September 17, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 950 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Judy, 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 17, 1978
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
950 mb (28.05 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 515 km (320 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.9
Identifier
WP191978

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, 00:0018.5N 165.9E1006 mbMixed
Sep 9, 06:0019.5N 164.7E20 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 9, 12:0019.6N 163.1E20 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 9, 18:0019.6N 161.6E20 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 10, 00:0020.0N 160.3E20 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 10, 06:0020.7N 159.3E20 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 10, 12:0021.5N 158.3E20 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 10, 18:0022.1N 157.1E20 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 11, 00:0022.7N 155.8E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 11, 06:0023.1N 154.3E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 11, 12:0023.3N 152.7E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 11, 18:0023.2N 151.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 12, 00:0023.1N 149.9E30 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 12, 06:0023.3N 148.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Sep 12, 12:0023.6N 148.0E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 18:0024.0N 147.2E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 00:0024.6N 146.7E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 06:0025.5N 146.4E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0026.3N 146.0E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0027.0N 145.7E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0027.6N 145.3E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0028.2N 145.0E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0028.8N 144.6E65 kt975 mbTyphoon
Sep 14, 18:0029.3N 144.3E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Sep 15, 00:0029.8N 144.2E75 kt965 mbTyphoon
Sep 15, 06:0030.5N 144.3E80 kt960 mbTyphoon
Sep 15, 12:0031.4N 144.6E85 kt955 mbTyphoon
Sep 15, 18:0032.5N 145.2E90 kt950 mbTyphoon
Sep 16, 00:0033.7N 146.1E90 kt950 mbTyphoon
Sep 16, 06:0035.0N 147.5E90 kt950 mbTyphoon
Sep 16, 12:0036.5N 149.2E90 kt950 mbTyphoon
Sep 16, 18:0038.3N 151.1E70 kt960 mbTyphoon
Sep 17, 00:0040.1N 153.4E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0042.0N 156.6E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0042.0N 159.0E990 mbExtratropical

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.