Unnamed tropical storm (1988)
Unnamed tropical storm peaked at 35 kt in the South Pacific between December 18, 1987 and December 22, 1987.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Unnamed tropical storm. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.























Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- South Pacific
- Dates
- December 18, 1987 to December 22, 1987
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 35 kt (40 mph)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 124 km (77 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 0.5
- Identifier
- SH041988
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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 18, 18:00 | 7.5S 176.5E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 19, 00:00 | 7.8S 176.8E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 19, 06:00 | 8.1S 177.0E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 19, 12:00 | 8.4S 177.2E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 19, 18:00 | 8.7S 177.4E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 20, 00:00 | 8.9S 177.6E | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 20, 06:00 | 9.2S 177.8E | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 20, 12:00 | 9.5S 177.9E | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 20, 18:00 | 9.9S 178.2E | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 21, 00:00 | 10.4S 178.5E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 21, 06:00 | 11.1S 178.9E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 21, 12:00 | 12.0S 179.1E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 21, 18:00 | 12.9S 179.3E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 22, 00:00 | 13.8S 179.3E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 22, 06:00 | 14.7S 179.5E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 22, 12:00 | 15.2S 179.2W | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 22, 18:00 | 14.7S 177.5W | 25 kt | Tropical storm |
Other South 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.