The 1998 season

Super Typhoon Babs (1998)

Super Typhoon Babs reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between October 11, 1998 and October 30, 1998, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Babs, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1998 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 11, 1998 to October 30, 1998
Peak strength
Category 4, 135 kt (155 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
31.5
Fastest the center moved
29 kt (33 mph)
Identifier
WP201998

Radar at PGUA as it neared land, Oct 12, 18:00 UTC

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 11, 18:0012.1N 149.2E20 ktNot reported
Oct 12, 00:0012.5N 148.3E20 ktNot reported
Oct 12, 06:0012.5N 147.1E20 ktNot reported
Oct 12, 12:0012.2N 145.9E20 ktNot reported
Oct 12, 18:0011.9N 144.9E20 ktNot reported
Oct 13, 00:0011.6N 143.8E20 ktNot reported
Oct 13, 06:0011.6N 142.9E20 ktNot reported
Oct 13, 12:0011.6N 142.0E25 ktNot reported
Oct 13, 18:0011.7N 140.9E25 ktNot reported
Oct 14, 00:0011.7N 139.7E25 ktNot reported
Oct 14, 06:0011.7N 138.8E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0011.7N 137.9E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0011.7N 137.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0011.8N 136.1E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0011.9N 135.2E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0011.9N 134.1E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:0012.0N 133.0E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0012.0N 132.6E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 06:0012.1N 132.4E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0012.1N 132.1E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0012.2N 131.8E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0012.2N 131.4E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0012.1N 131.0E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 12:0012.1N 130.5E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 18:0012.0N 130.2E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 00:0011.8N 130.1E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:0011.6N 130.0E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 12:0011.3N 129.9E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 18:0011.1N 129.8E50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 00:0011.0N 129.7E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 06:0010.9N 129.5E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 12:0010.9N 129.3E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 18:0011.0N 128.9E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 00:0011.3N 128.3E115 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 06:0011.7N 127.7E125 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 12:0012.2N 127.1E135 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 18:0012.7N 126.4E135 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 00:0013.0N 125.6E135 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 06:0013.4N 124.9E130 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 12:0013.7N 124.2E130 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 18:0013.9N 123.6E120 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 00:0014.2N 123.1E105 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 06:0014.6N 122.6E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 12:0015.0N 122.0E115 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 18:0015.4N 121.3E95 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 00:0016.0N 120.3E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 23, 06:0016.4N 119.5E80 kt970 mbXX
Oct 23, 12:0016.5N 118.9E80 kt970 mbXX
Oct 23, 18:0016.6N 118.3E80 kt970 mbXX
Oct 24, 00:0016.8N 117.7E80 kt970 mbXX
Oct 24, 06:0017.6N 117.2E80 kt970 mbXX
Oct 24, 12:0018.0N 116.9E80 kt965 mbXX
Oct 24, 18:0018.5N 116.5E80 kt965 mbXX
Oct 25, 00:0019.0N 116.3E75 kt965 mbXX
Oct 25, 06:0019.6N 116.3E75 kt965 mbXX
Oct 25, 12:0020.2N 116.3E75 kt965 mbXX
Oct 25, 18:0020.8N 116.4E70 kt965 mbXX
Oct 26, 00:0021.4N 116.7E65 kt970 mbXX
Oct 26, 06:0022.0N 117.0E65 kt975 mbXX
Oct 26, 12:0022.5N 117.2E65 kt975 mbXX
Oct 26, 18:0022.9N 117.5E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 00:0023.3N 117.8E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 06:0023.9N 118.2E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 12:0024.3N 118.6E30 kt1004 mbMixed
Oct 27, 18:0024.7N 119.0E25 kt1012 mbMixed
Oct 28, 00:0026.3N 122.6E1012 mbExtratropical
Oct 28, 06:0027.9N 125.3E1012 mbExtratropical
Oct 28, 12:0028.8N 127.4E1012 mbExtratropical
Oct 28, 18:0029.8N 129.6E1012 mbExtratropical
Oct 29, 00:0030.0N 132.7E1012 mbExtratropical
Oct 29, 06:0030.1N 135.4E1012 mbExtratropical
Oct 29, 12:0030.4N 137.1E1012 mbExtratropical
Oct 29, 18:0030.6N 138.0E1014 mbExtratropical
Oct 30, 00:0030.8N 138.9E1014 mbExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1998

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.