The 1988 season

Typhoon Fabian (1988)

Typhoon Fabian reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between August 24, 1988 and September 4, 1988, with a lowest pressure of 970 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Fabian, 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.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
August 24, 1988 to September 4, 1988
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
970 mb (28.64 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 406 km (252 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.2
Identifier
WP121988

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 24, 00:0030.4N 143.6E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 06:0030.3N 142.6E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 12:0030.3N 142.4E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 24, 18:0030.3N 142.1E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 00:0030.4N 142.2E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 06:0030.5N 142.5E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 12:0030.8N 142.8E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 25, 18:0031.0N 143.1E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 00:0031.3N 143.2E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 26, 06:0031.5N 143.0E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 12:0031.6N 142.7E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 18:0031.7N 142.5E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 00:0031.6N 142.3E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 06:0031.4N 142.2E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 12:0031.2N 142.1E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0030.9N 142.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0030.7N 142.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 06:0030.6N 142.6E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 12:0030.6N 142.8E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 18:0030.6N 143.0E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 00:0030.5N 143.2E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 06:0030.7N 143.6E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 12:0030.9N 143.9E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 18:0031.1N 144.3E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 00:0031.1N 144.8E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 06:0031.0N 145.5E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 12:0031.0N 146.4E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0031.1N 147.5E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 00:0031.2N 148.6E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 06:0031.4N 149.8E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 12:0031.4N 150.7E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 18:0031.4N 151.4E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 00:0031.4N 152.2E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 06:0031.4N 153.2E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 12:0031.7N 153.7E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 18:0032.4N 153.8E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 00:0033.2N 153.8E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 06:0034.0N 153.7E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 12:0035.5N 153.9E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 18:0036.8N 154.7E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 00:0039.0N 156.9E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 06:0041.3N 160.0E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 12:0043.3N 162.4E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 18:0045.8N 168.8E996 mbMixed
Sep 4, 00:0047.0N 175.0E996 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.