The 1988 season

Typhoon Odessa (1988)

Typhoon Odessa reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between October 8, 1988 and October 19, 1988, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Typhoon Odessa. 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
October 8, 1988 to October 19, 1988
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 374 km (232 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.5
Identifier
WP211988

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
Oct 8, 06:0017.2N 153.4E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 8, 12:0017.4N 151.5E20 kt1010 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 18:0017.7N 149.6E20 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 00:0018.0N 147.8E20 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 06:0018.4N 146.0E20 kt1006 mbMixed
Oct 9, 12:0018.7N 144.1E20 kt1006 mbMixed
Oct 9, 18:0019.1N 142.3E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 00:0019.4N 140.7E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:0019.6N 139.3E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:0019.6N 137.9E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 18:0019.4N 136.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 00:0019.1N 135.2E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 06:0019.0N 133.8E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 12:0019.0N 132.5E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 18:0018.9N 131.3E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 00:0018.9N 130.4E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 06:0019.2N 129.6E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 12:0019.8N 129.4E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 18:0020.5N 129.2E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 00:0021.1N 129.0E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0021.6N 128.9E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0021.9N 129.2E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0022.1N 129.5E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:0022.4N 130.0E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:0023.0N 130.5E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0023.6N 130.9E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0024.2N 131.3E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0024.7N 131.8E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0025.2N 132.4E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0025.6N 132.9E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:0025.8N 133.3E90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0026.1N 133.4E85 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 06:0026.3N 133.1E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0026.4N 132.8E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0026.5N 132.4E55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0026.5N 132.2E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0027.0N 132.0E1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 12:0027.3N 132.1E1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 18:0027.8N 132.3E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 00:0028.3N 133.0E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:0028.7N 134.2E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 12:0029.0N 135.8E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 18:0029.2N 137.4E1008 mbMixed
Oct 19, 00:0029.3N 139.8E1012 mbMixed

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.