The 1987 season

Typhoon Gerald (1987)

Typhoon Gerald reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between September 2, 1987 and September 11, 1987, with a lowest pressure of 950 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Gerald, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1987 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
September 2, 1987 to September 11, 1987
Peak strength
Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)
Lowest pressure
950 mb (28.05 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
12.2
Fastest the center moved
14 kt (16 mph)
Identifier
WP141987

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
Sep 2, 00:0015.3N 133.4ETropical storm
Sep 2, 06:0015.8N 132.8ETropical storm
Sep 2, 12:0016.2N 132.1ETropical storm
Sep 2, 18:0016.5N 131.4ETropical storm
Sep 3, 00:0016.7N 130.4E1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 06:0016.7N 129.6E1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 12:0016.6N 128.9E1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 18:0016.4N 128.3E1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 00:0015.9N 127.2E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 06:0016.0N 127.1E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 12:0016.1N 126.9E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0016.3N 126.8E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0016.6N 126.6E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0016.9N 126.5E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0017.1N 126.5E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0017.3N 126.5E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0017.4N 126.5E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 06:0017.5N 126.5E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0017.6N 126.4E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 18:0017.8N 126.4E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 00:0018.0N 126.3E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 06:0018.4N 126.0E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 12:0019.0N 125.6E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 18:0019.5N 125.1E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 00:0020.0N 124.7E85 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 06:0020.2N 124.0E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 12:0020.4N 123.2E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 18:0020.6N 122.4E105 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 00:0020.9N 121.9E105 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 06:0021.3N 121.2E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 12:0021.7N 120.5E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 18:0022.5N 120.0E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 00:0023.2N 119.5E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 06:0024.1N 119.0E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 12:0025.0N 118.5E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 18:0026.0N 118.0E30 kt998 mbMixed
Sep 11, 00:0027.2N 117.3E25 ktTropical storm

Other Western Pacific storms of 1987

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.