The 1988 season

Typhoon Ruby (1988)

Typhoon Ruby reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between October 20, 1988 and October 29, 1988, with a lowest pressure of 950 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Ruby, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
October 20, 1988 to October 29, 1988
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Lowest pressure
950 mb (28.05 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
15.0
Fastest the center moved
17 kt (20 mph)
Identifier
WP231988

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 20, 12:0010.0N 138.0E25 ktTropical storm
Oct 20, 18:0010.0N 137.4E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 00:0010.0N 136.8E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 06:0010.0N 136.3E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 12:009.9N 135.9E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 18:009.7N 135.4E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 00:009.5N 134.8E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 06:009.5N 134.1E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 12:009.6N 133.2E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 18:0010.0N 132.2E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 00:0010.7N 131.0E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 06:0011.1N 129.6E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 12:0011.5N 128.2E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 18:0012.2N 126.7E95 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 00:0012.9N 125.4E100 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 06:0013.8N 124.1E110 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 12:0014.6N 122.8E125 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 24, 18:0015.2N 121.7E120 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 00:0016.0N 120.4E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 06:0016.2N 118.9E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 12:0016.4N 118.0E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 25, 18:0016.5N 117.6E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 00:0016.5N 117.1E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 06:0016.8N 116.6E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 12:0017.2N 115.8E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 18:0017.6N 115.0E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 00:0017.9N 114.3E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 06:0018.2N 113.3E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 12:0018.4N 112.5E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 18:0018.5N 111.7E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 00:0018.8N 110.9E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 06:0018.7N 110.1E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 12:0018.4N 109.3E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 18:0018.2N 108.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 00:0017.9N 109.7E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 06:0017.5N 109.9E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 12:0017.5N 110.5E1008 mbTropical storm

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.