The 1987 season

Typhoon Kelly (1987)

Typhoon Kelly reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between October 9, 1987 and October 19, 1987, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Typhoon Kelly. 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
October 9, 1987 to October 19, 1987
Peak strength
Category 2, 95 kt (109 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
15.3
Fastest the center moved
52 kt (60 mph)
Identifier
WP201987

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 9, 00:0011.5N 137.0E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 06:0011.9N 137.1E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 12:0012.2N 137.3E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 18:0012.2N 137.3E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 00:0012.8N 137.4E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:0013.3N 137.6E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:0014.0N 137.7E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 18:0014.7N 137.8E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 00:0015.3N 137.9E50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 06:0015.7N 137.7E55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 12:0016.0N 137.6E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 18:0016.2N 137.3E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 00:0016.4N 137.2E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 06:0016.8N 137.2E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 12:0017.3N 137.2E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 18:0017.8N 137.1E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 00:0018.3N 136.8E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0018.9N 136.4E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0019.5N 136.1E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0020.2N 135.7E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:0021.3N 135.2E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:0022.1N 134.5E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0023.0N 133.7E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0024.0N 133.0E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0025.0N 132.2E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0025.8N 131.9E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0026.7N 131.8E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:0027.7N 131.9E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0029.0N 132.4E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 06:0030.4N 133.0E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0032.2N 133.4E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0034.2N 134.4E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0036.8N 136.0E45 kt986 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0039.3N 139.0E55 kt986 mbMixed
Oct 17, 12:0041.4N 141.6E986 mbExtratropical
Oct 17, 18:0043.0N 144.8E982 mbExtratropical
Oct 18, 00:0043.8N 147.8E980 mbExtratropical
Oct 18, 06:0044.0N 151.0E980 mbExtratropical
Oct 18, 12:0044.0N 156.1E980 mbExtratropical
Oct 18, 18:0044.0N 161.0E980 mbExtratropical
Oct 19, 00:0045.0N 168.0E984 mbExtratropical
Oct 19, 06:0046.0N 175.0E984 mbExtratropical

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.