The 1998 season

Super Typhoon Zeb (1998)

Super Typhoon Zeb reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 7, 1998 and October 20, 1998, with a lowest pressure of 900 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Zeb, 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 7, 1998 to October 20, 1998
Peak strength
Category 5, 155 kt (178 mph)
Lowest pressure
900 mb (26.58 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
28.3
Fastest the center moved
47 kt (54 mph)
Identifier
WP181998

Radar at RODN as it neared land, Oct 16, 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 7, 18:0011.2N 151.0E15 ktNot reported
Oct 8, 00:0011.0N 149.8E15 ktNot reported
Oct 8, 06:0010.9N 148.7E15 ktNot reported
Oct 8, 12:0010.9N 147.3E20 ktNot reported
Oct 8, 18:0010.8N 145.8E20 ktNot reported
Oct 9, 00:0010.8N 144.4E20 ktNot reported
Oct 9, 06:0010.8N 143.2E20 ktNot reported
Oct 9, 12:0010.8N 142.4E25 ktNot reported
Oct 9, 18:0010.8N 141.8E25 ktTropical storm
Oct 10, 00:0010.8N 141.2E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:0010.8N 140.3E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:0010.6N 139.3E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 18:0010.7N 138.2E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 00:0010.7N 137.2E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 06:0010.7N 136.0E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 12:0010.9N 134.8E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 18:0011.1N 133.6E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 00:0011.4N 132.4E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 06:0012.2N 131.2E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 12:0012.9N 129.9E110 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 18:0013.8N 128.7E125 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 00:0014.8N 127.4E140 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0015.5N 126.1E150 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0016.0N 124.7E155 kt910 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0016.5N 123.5E155 kt900 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:0017.0N 122.7E155 kt900 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:0017.4N 122.0E120 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0017.7N 121.4E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0018.2N 121.1E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0019.0N 120.9E85 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0020.1N 121.0E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0021.2N 121.1E80 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:0022.4N 121.3E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0023.8N 121.9E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 06:0025.3N 122.8E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0026.5N 124.6E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0027.5N 126.5E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0029.0N 128.2E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0030.7N 130.1E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 12:0033.1N 132.7E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 18:0036.0N 135.5E65 kt980 mbMixed
Oct 18, 00:0040.4N 137.9E60 kt980 mbExtratropical
Oct 18, 06:0043.7N 141.1E50 kt986 mbExtratropical
Oct 18, 12:0045.8N 145.0E50 kt990 mbExtratropical
Oct 18, 18:0048.0N 148.3E992 mbExtratropical
Oct 19, 00:0049.0N 150.6E994 mbExtratropical
Oct 19, 06:0050.7N 154.3E994 mbExtratropical
Oct 19, 12:0051.1N 159.5E996 mbExtratropical
Oct 19, 18:0051.1N 162.9E1000 mbExtratropical
Oct 20, 00:0050.8N 165.7E1004 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.