1978 Pacific typhoon season
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The 1978 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1978, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.
The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the international date line. Storms that form east of the date line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see 1978 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Storms formed in the entire west pacific basin were assigned a name by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Tropical depressions in this basin have the "W" suffix added to their number. Tropical depressions that enter or form in the Philippine area of responsibility are assigned a name by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA. This can often result in the same storm having two names.
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[edit] Storms
32 tropical depressions formed this year in the Western Pacific, of which 28 became tropical storms. 15 storms reached typhoon intensity, of which 1 reached super typhoon strength. Many of the storms either remained at sea or failed to do any damage.
[edit] Tropical Storm Agnes
Agnes formed on July 24, made a complete loop, and struck China on July 29 with winds of 55 mph after peaking at 60 mph. It dissipated the 30th.
[edit] Tropical Storm Gloria
Gloria formed on August 28 east of Japan. She strengthened to a 60 mph-tropical storm before dissipated on September 1.
[edit] Tropical Storm Nina
[edit] Super Typhoon Rita
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| Rita satellite image and storm path | |
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Tropical Depression 28 developed October 15. Three and a half days later, it strengthened into a tropical storm. Rita became a typhoon late on October 19. Rita reached Category 5 status on October 23, reaching a minimum central pressure of 878 millibars, only 8 mb higher than Typhoon Tip's record set in 1979. After spending over three consecutive days at that intensity, Rita weakened to a Category 4 and smashed ashore on Luzon. Rita stayed a typhoon during its entire passage over the Philippines and emerged into the South China Sea as a minimal typhoon. Rita then decayed slowly and dissipated as a depression near the coast of Vietnam. The typhoon caused considerable damage and loss of life in the Philippines, though exact numbers are unknown.
[edit] Tropical Storm Tess
[edit] Tropical Storm Winnie
Winnie formed on November 25. It reached a peak of 65 mph winds before its end on November 30.
[edit] 1978 storm names
Western North Pacific tropical cyclones were named by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The first storm of 1978 was named Nadine and the final one was named Winnie. This was the final year using this set of names.
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Two Central Pacific systems developed, Tropical Depression 10C and Hurricane Susan. The policy at the time was to use Western Pacific names in the Central Pacific.
