The 1988 season

Typhoon Hal (1988)

Typhoon Hal reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between September 5, 1988 and September 18, 1988, with a lowest pressure of 945 mb.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Typhoon Hal. 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
September 5, 1988 to September 18, 1988
Peak strength
Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)
Lowest pressure
945 mb (27.91 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 297 km (185 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
21.8
Identifier
WP141988

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
Sep 5, 06:0018.3N 163.4E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0018.1N 162.9E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0017.8N 162.5E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0017.5N 162.1E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 06:0017.3N 161.7E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0017.1N 161.3E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 6, 18:0016.9N 160.9E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 00:0016.8N 160.5E20 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 06:0016.8N 159.9E25 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 12:0016.9N 159.3E25 ktTropical storm
Sep 7, 18:0017.1N 158.7E25 ktTropical storm
Sep 8, 00:0017.5N 157.9E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 06:0018.0N 156.9E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 12:0018.4N 155.8E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 18:0018.9N 154.5E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 00:0019.6N 153.1E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 06:0020.3N 152.0E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 12:0020.8N 151.0E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 18:0021.0N 150.2E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 00:0021.1N 149.2E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 06:0021.2N 148.4E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 12:0021.1N 147.7E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 18:0020.9N 147.0E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 00:0020.5N 146.5E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 06:0020.1N 146.2E95 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 12:0019.7N 145.8E105 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 18:0020.0N 145.4E105 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 00:0020.4N 145.6E105 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 06:0021.0N 145.5E105 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 12:0021.5N 145.4E105 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 18:0022.3N 145.1E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 00:0023.1N 144.7E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 06:0023.9N 144.3E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0025.0N 143.9E105 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0026.0N 143.7E100 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0027.1N 143.4E100 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0028.2N 143.2E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0029.3N 142.9E85 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 18:0030.3N 142.3E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0031.3N 142.0E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 06:0032.2N 142.3E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 12:0033.2N 142.9E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 18:0034.4N 143.6E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 00:0035.7N 144.8E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 06:0037.0N 146.6E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0038.4N 149.1E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0039.7N 152.4E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0040.4N 156.3E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0042.5N 159.3E980 mbMixed
Sep 17, 12:0043.0N 164.0E980 mbExtratropical
Sep 17, 18:0043.5N 168.0E980 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 00:0044.0N 173.0E980 mbExtratropical
Sep 18, 06:0047.0N 180.0E976 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.