The 1980 season

Typhoon Lex (1980)

Typhoon Lex reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between July 26, 1980 and August 13, 1980, with a lowest pressure of 960 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Lex, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1980 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 26, 1980 to August 13, 1980
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
960 mb (28.35 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
14.8
Identifier
WP121980

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 26, 06:0022.5N 152.8E20 ktMixed
Jul 26, 12:0022.5N 152.3E20 ktMixed
Jul 26, 18:0022.5N 151.8E20 ktMixed
Jul 27, 00:0022.5N 151.3E20 ktMixed
Jul 27, 06:0022.5N 150.7E20 ktMixed
Jul 27, 12:0022.5N 150.1E20 ktMixed
Jul 27, 18:0022.6N 149.6E20 ktMixed
Jul 28, 00:0022.7N 149.0E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Jul 28, 06:0022.8N 148.5E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Jul 28, 12:0023.0N 148.0E20 kt1006 mbMixed
Jul 28, 18:0023.4N 148.2E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Jul 29, 00:0023.7N 148.4E25 kt1002 mbMixed
Jul 29, 06:0024.2N 148.4E30 kt1000 mbMixed
Jul 29, 12:0024.7N 148.3E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 18:0024.8N 148.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 00:0025.0N 149.5E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 06:0025.6N 149.4E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 12:0025.4N 148.9E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 18:0025.5N 148.6E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 00:0025.3N 148.3E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 06:0025.2N 148.0E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 12:0025.0N 147.1E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 18:0024.7N 147.2E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 00:0024.5N 146.6E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 06:0024.2N 146.1E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 12:0024.0N 145.6E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 18:0023.8N 145.0E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 00:0023.5N 144.5E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 06:0023.8N 144.4E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 12:0024.4N 144.5E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 18:0025.4N 144.5E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 00:0025.4N 144.4E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 06:0026.2N 144.4E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 12:0026.8N 144.4E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 18:0027.4N 144.4E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 00:0027.9N 144.5E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 06:0028.6N 144.7E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 12:0029.2N 145.1E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 18:0029.7N 145.6E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 00:0030.2N 146.3E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 06:0030.6N 147.0E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 12:0031.0N 147.8E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 18:0031.5N 148.6E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 6, 00:0032.1N 149.3E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 6, 06:0032.6N 150.2E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 6, 12:0033.2N 151.5E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 6, 18:0033.8N 152.9E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 7, 00:0034.8N 154.4E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 7, 06:0036.0N 155.0E40 kt985 mbMixed
Aug 7, 12:0037.1N 156.1E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 7, 18:0038.4N 156.3E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 00:0039.8N 156.2E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 06:0041.1N 156.2E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 12:0042.1N 156.3E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 18:0043.6N 156.4E994 mbMixed
Aug 9, 00:0045.0N 156.4E996 mbExtratropical
Aug 9, 06:0047.0N 156.4E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 9, 12:0049.8N 157.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Aug 9, 18:0053.0N 160.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Aug 10, 00:0057.0N 162.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Aug 10, 06:0058.0N 163.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Aug 10, 12:0058.0N 163.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Aug 10, 18:0058.0N 163.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Aug 11, 00:0058.0N 163.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Aug 11, 06:0057.0N 164.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Aug 11, 12:0056.0N 164.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Aug 11, 18:0055.0N 165.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Aug 12, 00:0054.0N 166.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Aug 12, 06:0053.0N 167.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 12, 12:0053.0N 169.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 12, 18:0053.0N 171.0E998 mbExtratropical
Aug 13, 00:0053.0N 173.0E996 mbExtratropical
Aug 13, 06:0053.5N 176.0E996 mbExtratropical
Aug 13, 12:0054.0N 179.0E996 mbExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1980

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.