Typhoon Phyllis (1978)

Typhoon Phyllis reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between October 13, 1978 and October 23, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Phyllis, 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: October 13, 1978 to October 23, 1978
Peak strength: Category 2, 95 kt (109 mph)
Lowest pressure: 955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall: No; closest approach 1156 km (718 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy: 14.1
Identifier: WP271978

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)	Position	Wind	Pressure	Status
Oct 13, 12:00	7.8N 165.5E	15 kt		Tropical depression
Oct 13, 18:00	8.6N 165.0E	15 kt		Tropical depression
Oct 14, 00:00	9.5N 164.5E	15 kt		Tropical depression
Oct 14, 06:00	10.5N 164.1E	15 kt		Tropical depression
Oct 14, 12:00	11.6N 163.7E	15 kt		Tropical depression
Oct 14, 18:00	12.7N 163.2E	15 kt		Tropical depression
Oct 15, 00:00	13.6N 162.6E	20 kt	1010 mb	Tropical depression
Oct 15, 06:00	14.1N 162.1E	20 kt	1008 mb	Tropical depression
Oct 15, 12:00	14.5N 161.6E	25 kt	1008 mb	Tropical depression
Oct 15, 18:00	15.1N 161.1E	25 kt	1004 mb	Tropical depression
Oct 16, 00:00	15.6N 160.7E	30 kt	1000 mb	Tropical depression
Oct 16, 06:00	15.9N 160.2E	35 kt	994 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 16, 12:00	16.2N 159.7E	40 kt	990 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 16, 18:00	16.5N 159.1E	45 kt	985 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 17, 00:00	16.9N 158.5E	50 kt	980 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 17, 06:00	17.5N 157.9E	50 kt	980 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 17, 12:00	18.2N 157.2E	55 kt	970 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 17, 18:00	18.9N 156.4E	60 kt	965 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 18, 00:00	19.6N 155.6E	70 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 18, 06:00	20.3N 155.3E	80 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 18, 12:00	20.9N 155.3E	90 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 18, 18:00	21.5N 155.3E	95 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 19, 00:00	22.1N 155.4E	95 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 19, 06:00	22.6N 155.4E	95 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 19, 12:00	23.1N 155.5E	95 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 19, 18:00	23.6N 155.3E	95 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 20, 00:00	24.1N 154.9E	90 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 20, 06:00	24.7N 154.6E	85 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 20, 12:00	25.4N 154.2E	80 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 20, 18:00	26.2N 153.9E	80 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 21, 00:00	27.1N 153.5E	80 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 21, 06:00	28.1N 153.8E	75 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 21, 12:00	29.2N 154.9E	70 kt	955 mb	Typhoon
Oct 21, 18:00	30.8N 157.1E	65 kt	960 mb	Typhoon
Oct 22, 00:00	32.9N 160.5E	60 kt	965 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 22, 06:00	35.4N 164.0E	50 kt	970 mb	Tropical depression
Oct 22, 12:00	38.5N 168.4E	50 kt	975 mb	Mixed
Oct 22, 18:00	41.5N 173.2E	45 kt	980 mb	Tropical storm
Oct 23, 00:00	46.0N 179.0E		980 mb	Extratropical

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.