The 1988 season

Tropical Storm Clara (1988)

Tropical Storm Clara peaked at 45 kt in the Western Pacific between August 5, 1988 and August 16, 1988, with a lowest pressure of 994 mb.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Tropical Storm Clara. 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
August 5, 1988 to August 16, 1988
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 45 kt (52 mph)
Lowest pressure
994 mb (29.35 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 185 km (115 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.3
Identifier
WP091988

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
Aug 5, 18:0026.5N 174.5E1012 mbTropical storm
Aug 6, 00:0027.0N 173.9E1012 mbMixed
Aug 6, 06:0027.3N 172.1E1012 mbMixed
Aug 6, 12:0027.6N 170.4E1012 mbMixed
Aug 6, 18:0027.8N 169.1E1012 mbMixed
Aug 7, 00:0028.0N 168.0E1012 mbMixed
Aug 7, 06:0028.2N 167.0E25 kt1012 mbMixed
Aug 7, 12:0028.3N 166.1E30 kt1012 mbMixed
Aug 7, 18:0028.4N 165.3E30 kt1012 mbMixed
Aug 8, 00:0028.4N 164.7E30 kt1010 mbMixed
Aug 8, 06:0028.5N 164.2E30 kt1008 mbMixed
Aug 8, 12:0028.7N 163.8E30 kt1008 mbMixed
Aug 8, 18:0028.8N 163.7E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 00:0028.8N 163.7E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 06:0028.7N 163.6E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 12:0028.5N 163.2E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 18:0028.4N 162.3E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 00:0028.4N 161.4E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 06:0028.6N 160.7E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 12:0028.7N 160.2E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 18:0028.7N 160.1E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 00:0028.5N 160.3E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 06:0028.4N 160.5E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 12:0028.5N 160.5E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 18:0028.9N 160.6E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 00:0029.5N 160.9E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 06:0030.3N 161.3E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 12:0030.9N 161.5E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 18:0031.6N 161.4E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 00:0032.6N 161.2E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 06:0033.4N 160.9E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 12:0034.4N 160.5E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 18:0035.3N 160.0E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 00:0036.0N 159.3E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 06:0037.0N 158.3E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 12:0037.9N 157.0E1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 18:0038.6N 155.4E1004 mbMixed
Aug 15, 00:0039.5N 154.0E1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 06:0040.0N 153.0E1008 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 12:0040.6N 152.2E1010 mbTropical storm
Aug 15, 18:0041.5N 151.5E1012 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 00:0043.0N 151.0E1014 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 06:0044.0N 151.0E1014 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 12:0044.5N 151.5E1014 mbExtratropical
Aug 16, 18:0045.5N 153.0E1014 mbExtratropical

Other Western 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.