Tropical Storm Charlie (1988)
Tropical Storm Charlie peaked at 50 kt in the South Pacific between February 19, 1988 and March 1, 1988, with a lowest pressure of 972 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Charlie, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1988 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- South Pacific
- Dates
- February 19, 1988 to March 1, 1988
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 50 kt (58 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 972 mb (28.70 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 3.1
- Identifier
- SH121988
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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 19, 00:00 | 12.7S 154.5E | Not reported | ||
| Feb 19, 06:00 | 12.7S 155.6E | Not reported | ||
| Feb 19, 12:00 | 12.7S 156.3E | Not reported | ||
| Feb 19, 18:00 | 12.8S 157.1E | Not reported | ||
| Feb 20, 00:00 | 12.8S 157.9E | Not reported | ||
| Feb 20, 06:00 | 14.8S 157.8E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 20, 12:00 | 14.6S 158.4E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 20, 18:00 | 14.1S 158.7E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 21, 00:00 | 13.7S 158.4E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 21, 06:00 | 13.9S 158.0E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 21, 12:00 | 14.1S 157.6E | 35 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 21, 18:00 | 14.3S 157.4E | 35 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 22, 00:00 | 14.4S 157.1E | 35 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 22, 06:00 | 14.6S 156.8E | 40 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 22, 12:00 | 14.6S 156.4E | 40 kt | 993 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 22, 18:00 | 14.6S 156.0E | 40 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 23, 00:00 | 14.6S 155.6E | 45 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 23, 06:00 | 14.6S 155.2E | 45 kt | 989 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 23, 12:00 | 14.6S 154.8E | 45 kt | 988 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 23, 18:00 | 14.8S 154.5E | 45 kt | 986 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 24, 00:00 | 15.1S 154.5E | 45 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 24, 06:00 | 15.5S 154.6E | 40 kt | 987 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 24, 12:00 | 16.0S 154.9E | 35 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 24, 18:00 | 16.6S 155.0E | 30 kt | 993 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 25, 00:00 | 17.2S 154.7E | 25 kt | 993 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 25, 06:00 | 17.4S 154.3E | 25 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 25, 12:00 | 17.5S 154.0E | 30 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 25, 18:00 | 17.6S 153.6E | 30 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 26, 00:00 | 17.8S 152.9E | 30 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 26, 06:00 | 18.0S 151.8E | 30 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 26, 12:00 | 17.9S 150.6E | 30 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 26, 18:00 | 17.0S 150.7E | 30 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 27, 00:00 | 17.2S 151.5E | 30 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 27, 06:00 | 17.9S 151.8E | 30 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 27, 12:00 | 18.4S 150.7E | 30 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 27, 18:00 | 19.2S 149.9E | 30 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 28, 00:00 | 19.2S 149.0E | 30 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 28, 06:00 | 19.0S 148.3E | 35 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 28, 12:00 | 18.9S 147.9E | 35 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 28, 18:00 | 18.9S 147.7E | 35 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 29, 00:00 | 19.0S 147.4E | 35 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 29, 06:00 | 19.3S 147.2E | 30 kt | 982 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 29, 12:00 | 19.6S 147.5E | 25 kt | 972 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 29, 18:00 | 19.9S 147.8E | 25 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 1, 00:00 | 20.3S 147.9E | 50 kt | 993 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 1, 06:00 | 20.8S 147.7E | 30 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 1, 12:00 | 20.9S 147.5E | 20 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 1, 18:00 | 20.9S 147.5E | 20 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
Other South Pacific storms of 1988
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.