The 1978 season

Typhoon Lola (1978)

Typhoon Lola reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between September 20, 1978 and October 5, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Lola, 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 20, 1978 to October 5, 1978
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
9.7
Identifier
WP211978

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 20, 12:007.6N 147.0E15 ktTropical depression
Sep 20, 18:008.5N 146.8E15 ktTropical depression
Sep 21, 00:009.2N 146.5E15 ktTropical depression
Sep 21, 06:009.7N 146.0E15 ktTropical depression
Sep 21, 12:0010.0N 145.3E15 ktTropical depression
Sep 21, 18:0010.2N 144.5E15 ktTropical depression
Sep 22, 00:0010.3N 143.7E15 ktTropical depression
Sep 22, 06:0010.4N 142.9E15 ktTropical depression
Sep 22, 12:0010.5N 142.0E15 ktTropical depression
Sep 22, 18:0010.7N 141.0E15 ktTropical depression
Sep 23, 00:0011.0N 139.9E20 ktTropical depression
Sep 23, 06:0011.4N 138.9E20 ktTropical depression
Sep 23, 12:0011.7N 137.8E20 ktTropical depression
Sep 23, 18:0011.9N 136.7E20 ktTropical depression
Sep 24, 00:0012.1N 135.6E20 ktTropical depression
Sep 24, 06:0012.2N 134.7E20 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 24, 12:0012.3N 133.7E25 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 24, 18:0012.3N 132.4E25 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 25, 00:0012.3N 131.0E30 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Sep 25, 06:0012.3N 129.9E30 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Sep 25, 12:0012.2N 128.8E30 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Sep 25, 18:0012.2N 127.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Sep 26, 00:0012.2N 126.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 06:0012.5N 125.8E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 12:0012.8N 124.7E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 18:0013.1N 123.6E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 00:0013.5N 122.5E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 06:0013.9N 121.4E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 12:0014.3N 120.4E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 18:0014.7N 119.3E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 00:0015.1N 118.2E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 06:0015.5N 117.3E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 12:0015.9N 116.5E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 18:0016.2N 115.7E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 00:0016.5N 114.9E65 kt965 mbTyphoon
Sep 29, 06:0016.8N 114.1E65 kt965 mbTyphoon
Sep 29, 12:0017.0N 113.5E70 kt965 mbTyphoon
Sep 29, 18:0017.2N 113.1E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Sep 30, 00:0017.4N 112.8E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Sep 30, 06:0017.8N 112.6E75 kt970 mbTyphoon
Sep 30, 12:0018.2N 112.3E75 kt970 mbTyphoon
Sep 30, 18:0018.5N 112.0E75 kt970 mbTyphoon
Oct 1, 00:0018.9N 111.7E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Oct 1, 06:0019.3N 111.1E65 kt975 mbTyphoon
Oct 1, 12:0019.7N 110.5E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 18:0020.0N 110.1E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 00:0020.4N 109.6E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 06:0020.8N 109.0E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 12:0021.3N 108.3E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 18:0021.5N 107.5E40 kt992 mbTropical depression
Oct 3, 00:0021.5N 106.6E1000 mbMixed
Oct 3, 06:0021.5N 105.9E1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 12:0021.6N 104.9E1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 18:0021.5N 104.2E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 00:0021.8N 103.9E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 06:0022.0N 103.5E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 12:0022.0N 103.0E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 18:0022.0N 102.5E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 00:0022.0N 102.0E1008 mbTropical storm

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.