The 1978 season

Unnamed tropical depression (1978)

Unnamed tropical depression peaked at 30 kt in the Western Pacific between August 14, 1978 and August 21, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 998 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed tropical depression, 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
August 14, 1978 to August 21, 1978
Peak strength
Tropical Depression, 30 kt (35 mph)
Lowest pressure
998 mb (29.47 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
0.0
Identifier
WP131978

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
Aug 14, 00:009.0N 162.2E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 14, 06:009.9N 160.8E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 14, 12:0010.8N 159.6E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 14, 18:0011.7N 158.5E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 15, 00:0012.7N 157.5E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 15, 06:0013.6N 156.7E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 15, 12:0014.5N 155.8E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 15, 18:0015.3N 154.9E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 16, 00:0016.1N 154.0E15 ktTropical storm
Aug 16, 06:0016.9N 153.1E15 ktTropical storm
Aug 16, 12:0017.8N 152.2E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 16, 18:0018.6N 151.4E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 00:0019.4N 150.7E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 06:0020.0N 150.3E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 12:0020.6N 149.9E15 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 18:0021.2N 149.5E15 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 00:0021.9N 148.9E15 kt1008 mbMixed
Aug 18, 06:0022.9N 147.5E15 kt1006 mbMixed
Aug 18, 12:0023.9N 145.4E20 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 18, 18:0024.7N 143.2E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 00:0025.6N 141.1E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 06:0026.7N 139.2E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 12:0028.0N 137.5E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 19, 18:0029.4N 136.1E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 20, 00:0030.9N 135.0E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 20, 06:0032.6N 134.5E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 20, 12:0034.6N 134.5E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Aug 20, 18:0038.9N 136.0E1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 21, 00:0041.9N 139.0E1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 21, 06:0041.0N 143.0E1004 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.