The 1978 season

Typhoon Wendy (1978)

Typhoon Wendy reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between July 22, 1978 and August 8, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 960 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Wendy, 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
July 22, 1978 to August 8, 1978
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
960 mb (28.35 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
17.5
Identifier
WP081978

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
Jul 22, 00:0018.4N 139.2E20 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jul 22, 06:0019.1N 138.7E20 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jul 22, 12:0019.8N 138.2E25 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jul 22, 18:0020.4N 137.7E25 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jul 23, 00:0020.9N 137.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jul 23, 06:0021.3N 136.7E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jul 23, 12:0021.4N 136.2E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 18:0021.3N 135.2E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 00:0021.2N 134.4E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 06:0020.9N 134.2E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 12:0020.7N 134.0E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 18:0020.8N 133.9E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 00:0020.9N 133.7E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 06:0021.0N 133.6E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 12:0021.1N 133.4E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 18:0021.3N 133.4E65 kt975 mbTyphoon
Jul 26, 00:0021.5N 133.4E70 kt975 mbTyphoon
Jul 26, 06:0021.7N 133.3E70 kt975 mbTyphoon
Jul 26, 12:0021.9N 133.1E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Jul 26, 18:0022.5N 132.8E70 kt965 mbTyphoon
Jul 27, 00:0023.3N 132.5E75 kt965 mbTyphoon
Jul 27, 06:0023.9N 132.0E75 kt960 mbTyphoon
Jul 27, 12:0024.6N 131.5E80 kt960 mbTyphoon
Jul 27, 18:0025.5N 130.8E80 kt960 mbTyphoon
Jul 28, 00:0026.4N 130.0E80 kt960 mbTyphoon
Jul 28, 06:0027.1N 128.6E80 kt960 mbTyphoon
Jul 28, 12:0027.6N 127.3E75 kt965 mbTyphoon
Jul 28, 18:0027.9N 126.7E75 kt970 mbTyphoon
Jul 29, 00:0028.2N 126.2E70 kt960 mbTyphoon
Jul 29, 06:0028.8N 125.8E70 kt960 mbTyphoon
Jul 29, 12:0029.4N 125.5E75 kt960 mbTyphoon
Jul 29, 18:0029.7N 125.3E75 kt960 mbTyphoon
Jul 30, 00:0029.9N 125.1E75 kt960 mbTyphoon
Jul 30, 06:0030.1N 124.8E70 kt965 mbTyphoon
Jul 30, 12:0030.3N 124.6E70 kt965 mbTyphoon
Jul 30, 18:0030.4N 124.8E70 kt965 mbTyphoon
Jul 31, 00:0030.5N 125.1E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Jul 31, 06:0030.6N 125.0E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Jul 31, 12:0030.7N 124.9E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Jul 31, 18:0030.6N 125.0E70 kt975 mbTyphoon
Aug 1, 00:0030.5N 125.5E65 kt975 mbTyphoon
Aug 1, 06:0030.6N 126.3E65 kt980 mbTyphoon
Aug 1, 12:0030.8N 127.1E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 18:0031.0N 127.9E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 00:0031.2N 128.8E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 06:0032.0N 129.6E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 12:0033.5N 130.5E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 18:0034.6N 131.6E35 kt988 mbTropical depression
Aug 3, 00:0037.0N 132.9E35 kt988 mbMixed
Aug 3, 06:0039.3N 134.4E990 mbMixed
Aug 3, 12:0041.3N 136.4E990 mbMixed
Aug 3, 18:0043.0N 139.0E990 mbMixed
Aug 4, 00:0044.0N 141.0E990 mbExtratropical
Aug 4, 06:0047.0N 146.0E988 mbExtratropical
Aug 4, 12:0048.0N 149.0E988 mbExtratropical
Aug 4, 18:0049.0N 152.0E984 mbExtratropical
Aug 5, 00:0049.0N 154.0E984 mbExtratropical
Aug 5, 06:0049.0N 157.0E984 mbExtratropical
Aug 5, 12:0049.0N 161.0E984 mbExtratropical
Aug 5, 18:0049.0N 163.0E984 mbExtratropical
Aug 6, 00:0050.7N 166.0E984 mbExtratropical
Aug 6, 06:0051.8N 169.2E984 mbExtratropical
Aug 6, 12:0052.8N 172.0E982 mbExtratropical
Aug 6, 18:0053.9N 174.7E984 mbExtratropical
Aug 7, 00:0055.1N 177.0E984 mbExtratropical
Aug 7, 06:0055.9N 176.5E984 mbExtratropical
Aug 7, 12:0056.4N 175.9E988 mbExtratropical
Aug 7, 18:0057.0N 175.7E988 mbExtratropical
Aug 8, 00:0057.8N 175.2E992 mbExtratropical
Aug 8, 06:0059.0N 175.0E994 mbExtratropical

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.