The 1987 season

Super Typhoon Lynn (1987)

Super Typhoon Lynn reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 14, 1987 and October 28, 1987, with a lowest pressure of 920 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Super Typhoon Lynn. 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 14, 1987 to October 28, 1987
Peak strength
Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
Lowest pressure
920 mb (27.17 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
34.4
Fastest the center moved
22 kt (25 mph)
Identifier
WP211987

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 14, 18:0012.8N 167.7E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0012.8N 165.6E25 ktTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0012.7N 163.5E25 ktTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0012.6N 161.4E25 ktTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:0012.6N 159.3E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0012.8N 157.2E35 kt1004 mbMixed
Oct 16, 06:0013.0N 155.3E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0013.2N 153.9E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0013.3N 153.2E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0013.3N 152.3E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0013.3N 151.3E55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 12:0013.2N 150.1E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 18:0013.3N 148.9E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 00:0013.6N 147.6E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:0014.0N 146.6E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 12:0014.6N 145.7E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 18:0015.1N 145.0E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 00:0015.7N 144.3E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 06:0016.2N 143.5E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 12:0016.6N 142.7E115 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 18:0016.9N 141.8E125 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 00:0017.3N 141.1E140 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 06:0017.6N 140.2E140 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 12:0017.8N 139.2E140 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 18:0018.0N 138.0E140 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 00:0018.0N 136.7E140 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 06:0018.0N 135.3E125 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 12:0018.0N 134.0E125 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 18:0018.0N 132.5E115 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 00:0018.0N 130.9E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 06:0018.0N 129.3E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 12:0018.1N 127.8E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 18:0018.1N 126.3E95 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 00:0018.3N 124.9E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 06:0018.5N 123.6E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 12:0018.8N 122.5E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 18:0019.1N 121.6E90 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 00:0019.4N 120.9E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 06:0019.7N 120.3E85 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 12:0020.0N 119.9E75 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 18:0020.3N 119.6E65 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 00:0020.6N 119.3E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 06:0020.9N 119.1E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 12:0021.1N 119.0E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 18:0021.3N 118.9E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 00:0021.5N 118.7E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 06:0021.7N 118.2E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 12:0021.6N 117.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 18:0021.5N 117.6E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 00:0021.3N 117.3E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 06:0021.2N 116.5E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 12:0021.2N 115.7E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 18:0021.4N 114.8E30 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 00:0021.9N 114.0E30 kt1010 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 06:0023.1N 113.3E25 kt1012 mbMixed

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.