The 1987 season

Typhoon Orchid (1987)

Typhoon Orchid reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between January 6, 1987 and January 14, 1987, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Typhoon Orchid. 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
January 6, 1987 to January 14, 1987
Peak strength
Category 2, 95 kt (109 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 347 km (216 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.1
Identifier
WP011987

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
Jan 6, 12:005.8N 162.4E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 6, 18:006.2N 160.5E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 7, 00:006.4N 158.4E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 7, 06:006.6N 156.6E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 7, 12:006.9N 155.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 7, 18:007.1N 153.7E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 00:007.2N 152.4E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 06:007.2N 151.4E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 12:007.2N 150.6E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 18:007.2N 150.0E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 00:007.3N 149.2E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 06:007.5N 148.0E40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 12:007.9N 146.5E45 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 18:008.4N 144.9E50 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 00:008.8N 143.4E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 06:009.2N 141.9E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 12:009.7N 140.4E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 18:0010.0N 139.1E85 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 00:0010.2N 137.9E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 06:0010.5N 136.8E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 12:0010.8N 135.8E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 18:0010.9N 134.9E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 00:0011.1N 134.0E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 06:0011.4N 133.3E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 12:0011.7N 132.7E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 18:0011.7N 132.2E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 00:0011.3N 131.6E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 06:0010.8N 131.1E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 12:0010.1N 130.7E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 18:008.7N 130.4E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 00:006.8N 129.9E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 06:005.5N 129.5E1004 mbTropical 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.