The 1978 season

Typhoon Ora (1978)

Typhoon Ora reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between October 8, 1978 and October 19, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Ora, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
October 8, 1978 to October 19, 1978
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 101 km (63 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.1
Identifier
WP241978

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
Oct 8, 00:0011.3N 138.0E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 8, 06:0012.1N 138.5E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 8, 12:0012.9N 138.7E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 8, 18:0013.7N 138.5E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 00:0014.4N 137.9E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 06:0014.5N 136.7E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 12:0014.5N 135.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 18:0015.8N 134.7E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 00:0017.2N 133.9E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:0017.4N 132.7E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:0017.7N 131.5E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 18:0018.6N 130.6E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 00:0019.5N 129.6E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 06:0020.2N 128.5E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 12:0020.9N 127.4E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 18:0021.4N 126.0E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 00:0021.8N 124.5E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 06:0022.0N 123.3E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 12:0022.1N 122.7E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 18:0022.5N 122.6E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 00:0023.1N 122.7E80 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0024.0N 122.9E85 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0024.9N 123.1E80 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0025.5N 123.4E70 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:0026.0N 123.8E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:0026.6N 124.6E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0027.3N 126.0E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0028.3N 127.9E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0029.5N 130.3E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0029.9N 133.4E998 mbMixed
Oct 15, 12:0030.9N 136.3E998 mbMixed
Oct 15, 18:0031.7N 139.7E996 mbMixed
Oct 16, 00:0033.1N 143.8E994 mbExtratropical
Oct 16, 06:0034.1N 147.4E992 mbExtratropical
Oct 16, 12:0035.0N 152.0E992 mbExtratropical
Oct 16, 18:0036.0N 155.0E992 mbExtratropical
Oct 17, 00:0036.9N 158.0E992 mbExtratropical
Oct 17, 06:0037.3N 160.6E992 mbExtratropical
Oct 17, 12:0037.8N 163.0E988 mbExtratropical
Oct 17, 18:0039.0N 165.5E988 mbExtratropical
Oct 18, 00:0040.0N 168.0E988 mbExtratropical
Oct 18, 06:0040.6N 170.0E992 mbExtratropical
Oct 18, 12:0041.2N 171.3E992 mbExtratropical
Oct 18, 18:0041.8N 172.9E992 mbExtratropical
Oct 19, 00:0042.2N 174.9E992 mbExtratropical
Oct 19, 06:0043.0N 177.8E992 mbExtratropical
Oct 19, 12:0043.6N 181.8EExtratropical

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.