The 1987 season

Typhoon Sperry (1987)

Typhoon Sperry reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between June 24, 1987 and July 5, 1987, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Typhoon Sperry. 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
June 24, 1987 to July 5, 1987
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
980 mb (28.94 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 321 km (199 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.2
Identifier
WP041987

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
Jun 24, 18:0010.0N 149.7E15 ktTropical storm
Jun 25, 00:0010.1N 148.1E15 ktTropical storm
Jun 25, 06:0010.2N 146.6E20 ktTropical storm
Jun 25, 12:0010.3N 145.1E20 ktTropical storm
Jun 25, 18:0010.8N 143.7E20 ktTropical storm
Jun 26, 00:0010.9N 142.2E25 kt1008 mbMixed
Jun 26, 06:0011.2N 140.7E25 kt1006 mbMixed
Jun 26, 12:0011.6N 139.4E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Jun 26, 18:0012.1N 138.3E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jun 27, 00:0012.5N 137.4E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jun 27, 06:0013.0N 136.7E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jun 27, 12:0013.3N 136.2E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jun 27, 18:0013.8N 135.8E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 28, 00:0014.3N 135.3E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 28, 06:0014.9N 135.0E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 28, 12:0015.6N 134.6E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 28, 18:0016.4N 134.2E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 29, 00:0017.3N 133.9E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 29, 06:0018.3N 133.4E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 29, 12:0019.4N 132.8E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jun 29, 18:0020.7N 132.0E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jun 30, 00:0022.0N 131.5E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 30, 06:0023.3N 131.3E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 30, 12:0024.9N 131.4E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 30, 18:0026.7N 131.7E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 1, 00:0028.3N 132.6E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 1, 06:0029.8N 134.6E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jul 1, 12:0031.0N 137.6E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jul 1, 18:0032.0N 141.2E30 kt992 mbMixed
Jul 2, 00:0032.4N 144.9E25 kt994 mbMixed
Jul 2, 06:0032.8N 146.3E996 mbExtratropical
Jul 2, 12:0032.8N 148.2E998 mbExtratropical
Jul 2, 18:0032.4N 150.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Jul 3, 00:0032.0N 151.8E1002 mbExtratropical
Jul 3, 06:0031.6N 153.4E1002 mbExtratropical
Jul 3, 12:0031.5N 155.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Jul 3, 18:0031.5N 156.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Jul 4, 00:0031.7N 156.9E1004 mbExtratropical
Jul 4, 06:0031.8N 157.8E1004 mbExtratropical
Jul 4, 12:0032.0N 158.5E1004 mbExtratropical
Jul 4, 18:0032.4N 159.4E1004 mbExtratropical
Jul 5, 00:0032.8N 160.1E1004 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.