Hurricane Rita (1978)

Basin

Eastern Pacific

Dates

October 15, 1978 to October 30, 1978

Peak strength

Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)

Lowest pressure

880 mb (25.99 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

49.4

Fastest the center moved

22 kt (25 mph)

Identifier

WP281978

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.

• Hurricane AlettaEastern Pacific · 1978Cat 165 kt
• Tropical Storm BudEastern Pacific · 1978Tropical Storm50 kt
• Hurricane CarlottaEastern Pacific · 1978Cat 4115 kt
• Hurricane DanielEastern Pacific · 1978Cat 3100 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1978Tropical Depression25 kt
• Tropical Storm EmiliaEastern Pacific · 1978Tropical Storm55 kt
• Hurricane FicoEastern Pacific · 1978Cat 4120 kt
• Hurricane GilmaEastern Pacific · 1978Cat 3100 kt
• Hurricane HectorEastern Pacific · 1978Cat 4120 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1978Tropical Depression30 kt
• Hurricane IvaEastern Pacific · 1978Cat 165 kt
• Hurricane JohnEastern Pacific · 1978Cat 290 kt
• Hurricane KristyEastern Pacific · 1978Cat 290 kt
• Tropical Storm LaneEastern Pacific · 1978Tropical Storm45 kt
• Hurricane MiriamEastern Pacific · 1978Cat 180 kt
• Hurricane NormanEastern Pacific · 1978Cat 4120 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionEastern Pacific · 1978Tropical Depression25 kt
• Tropical Storm PaulEastern Pacific · 1978Tropical Storm40 kt
• Hurricane RosaEastern Pacific · 1978Cat 175 kt
• Hurricane SusanEastern Pacific · 1978Cat 4115 kt
• Tropical Storm SergioEastern Pacific · 1978Tropical Storm35 kt

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.

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.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.

• Wikipedia article: Typhoon Rita