The 1982 season

Typhoon Nelson (1982)

Typhoon Nelson reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between March 18, 1982 and April 1, 1982, with a lowest pressure of 935 mb, and made landfall. It killed 56 people, as Wikidata records it.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Typhoon Nelson. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
March 18, 1982 to April 1, 1982
Peak strength
Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)
Lowest pressure
935 mb (27.61 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
19.3
Fastest the center moved
18 kt (21 mph)
Identifier
WP021982

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

Wikidata

56 deathsno damage figure

A community-maintained total, usually direct and indirect deaths together and damage worldwide. Joined to this storm by its IBTrACS serial, not by name.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Mar 18, 00:004.0N 161.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Mar 18, 06:003.8N 160.7E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Mar 18, 12:004.5N 158.8E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Mar 18, 18:004.9N 157.1E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Mar 19, 00:005.5N 155.5E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 19, 06:005.9N 153.9E50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 19, 12:006.4N 152.4E55 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 19, 18:006.7N 151.0E55 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 20, 00:006.9N 149.9E50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 20, 06:006.9N 148.7E50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Mar 20, 12:007.0N 147.6E50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Mar 20, 18:007.3N 146.5E50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 00:007.5N 145.5E50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 06:007.8N 144.4E55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 12:007.9N 142.9E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 18:008.1N 141.3E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 00:008.3N 139.5E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 06:008.6N 137.7E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 12:008.8N 136.1E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 18:009.0N 134.8E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 00:009.1N 133.5E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 06:009.2N 132.4E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 12:009.3N 131.4E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 18:009.5N 130.4E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 00:009.7N 129.5E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 06:009.8N 128.8E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 12:009.8N 128.2E85 kt950 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 18:009.9N 127.7E90 kt945 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 00:0010.1N 127.2E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 06:0010.3N 126.8E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 12:0010.5N 126.2E105 kt940 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 18:0010.4N 125.5E100 kt950 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 00:0010.3N 124.8E95 kt960 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 06:0010.5N 124.0E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 12:0011.0N 123.5E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 18:0011.5N 122.9E75 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 00:0011.7N 122.2E65 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 06:0011.8N 121.3E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 12:0011.9N 120.4E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 18:0012.0N 119.5E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 00:0012.4N 118.5E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 06:0012.9N 117.8E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 12:0013.3N 117.2E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 18:0013.7N 116.6E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 00:0014.1N 116.1E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 06:0014.3N 115.8E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 12:0014.2N 115.4E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 18:0014.0N 114.9E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 00:0013.9N 114.5E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 06:0013.8N 114.2E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 12:0013.5N 114.0E30 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 18:0013.2N 113.7E30 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 00:0012.9N 113.6E30 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 06:0012.9N 114.0E30 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 12:0013.1N 114.0E30 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 18:0013.1N 113.5E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 1, 00:0013.1N 113.1E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 1, 06:0013.1N 112.6E25 ktNot reported

Other Western Pacific storms of 1982

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.