The 1978 season

Unnamed tropical depression (1978)

Unnamed tropical depression peaked at 20 kt in the Western Pacific between October 10, 1978 and October 17, 1978.

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
October 10, 1978 to October 17, 1978
Peak strength
Tropical Depression, 20 kt (23 mph)
Landfall
No; closest approach 79 km (49 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
0.0
Identifier
WP261978

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 10, 00:005.6N 153.4E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:006.0N 152.6E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:006.4N 151.8E15 ktMixed
Oct 10, 18:006.8N 150.9E15 ktMixed
Oct 11, 00:007.3N 149.9E15 ktMixed
Oct 11, 06:007.7N 148.9E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 11, 12:008.2N 147.9E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 11, 18:008.5N 146.9E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 12, 00:008.7N 145.7E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 12, 06:009.1N 144.3E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 12, 12:009.6N 142.6E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 12, 18:009.8N 140.8E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 13, 00:0010.0N 139.1E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0010.5N 137.6E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0011.0N 136.4E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0011.5N 135.5E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:0012.1N 134.5E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:0012.7N 133.6E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0013.2N 132.6E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0013.7N 131.8E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0014.1N 131.1E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0014.5N 130.5E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0015.0N 130.2E20 ktMixed
Oct 15, 18:0015.4N 130.2E20 ktMixed
Oct 16, 00:0015.9N 130.1E20 ktMixed
Oct 16, 06:0016.3N 130.1E20 ktMixed
Oct 16, 12:0016.7N 130.0E15 ktMixed
Oct 16, 18:0013.6N 128.0EDisturbance
Oct 17, 00:0012.8N 127.5EDisturbance
Oct 17, 06:0011.2N 126.5EDisturbance

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.