1978 Pacific typhoon season
The 1978 Pacific typhoon season was a very active season that produced 31 tropical storms, 16 typhoon and one intense typhoon. It 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.
Seasonal summary
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33 tropical depressions formed this year in the Western Pacific, of which 29 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.
Systems
Severe Tropical Storm Nadine
Nadine stayed at sea.Typhoon Olive (Atang)
In the Philippines, Typhoon Olive killed 3 people and left 3,500 homeless. A lengthened ex-”FS” ship of Compania Maritima was caught in it, the MV Leyte. She was wrecked in the southwestern portion of Sibuyan Island trying to reach shelter. She was then on a Manila-Cebu voyage.Tropical Storm Polly (Bising)
Polly was the first of three short-lived June systems.Tropical Storm Rose (Klaring)
Rose was the second of three weak June systems.Tropical Storm Shirley (Deling)
Shirley hit Vietnam as a tropical storm.Typhoon Trix
Trix did a loop.Typhoon Virginia
Virginia stayed largely at sea.Typhoon Wendy (Emang)
Wendy ultimately hit Japan.Severe 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. In Hong Kong Tropical Storm Agnes killed 3 people.Tropical Storm Bonnie
Bonnie hit Vietnam.Typhoon Carmen (Iliang)
Carmen was short-lived.Tropical Storm Della (Heling)
Della hit China.Tropical Storm 13W
13W was weak but hit Japan.Typhoon Elaine (Miding)
Elaine struck China.Typhoon Faye
Faye stayed at sea.Tropical Storm Gloria (Norming)
Gloria stayed at sea.Tropical Storm Hester
Hester stayed away from land.Typhoon Irma (Ruping)
Irma, the eighth typhoon of the 1978 season, developed in the monsoon trough southeast of Taiwan. It made landfall in Honshu, Japan. With winds of up to 120 km/h, Typhoon Irma killed at least 6 people and made about 3,000 homeless. Four people were missing and about 100 were injured by floods and landslides in southwestern Japan. It destroyed or damaged 1,597 homes and left 6,266 homes flooded. Irma smashed windows, overturned cars, and capsized several fishing boats. Several athletes at the Japan-China Friendship Track and Field Meet in Kitakyushu were injured when a freak gust blew them ten feet in the air. A Liberian-registered tanker was swept from its moorings off the port of Kure and drifted for nearly 5 kilometers before running aground off a small island in the Inland Sea. Irma remained a typhoon for only 12 hours becoming the shortest-lived typhoon of the season.Typhoon Judy
Judy did not impact land.Severe Tropical Storm Kit (Uding)
Kit hit Vietnam and The Philippines.Typhoon Lola (Weling)
Lola hit China.Typhoon Mamie
Mamie recurved out to sea.Severe Tropical Storm Nina (Yaning)
According to the official reports, 59 people died and more than 500,000 were in evacuation centers in the Philippines.Typhoon Ora (Aning)
Ora brushed Taiwan.Tropical Depression 25W
25W did not affect land.Tropical Depression 26W (Bidang)
26W followed 25W.Typhoon Phyllis
Phyllis recurved from Japan.Typhoon Rita (Kading)
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.Tropical Storm Twenty-seven
27 was weak and short-lived.Severe Tropical Storm Tess
A tropical depression developed on October 31. The depression was upgraded to a tropical storm on November 2. Tess continued to intensify and reached its peak intensity as a 70 mph storm; just short of typhoon status. The storm became extratropical on November 7.Tropical Depression 30W (Delang)
30W came close to land.Typhoon Viola (Esang)
Increased convective activity in the monsoon trough was first noticed on satellite data on November 14 about 690 mi southeast of Truk. On November 16, the disturbance was upgraded to Tropical Depression 33. Based on an improved satellite signature, TD 33 was upgraded to Tropical Storm Viola at 1200 UTC November 17. Viola continued to intensify as the storm moved on a northwestward track. Late on November 19 reconnaissance aircraft confirmed that Viola's surface pressure had fallen to 977 mb; and, that an eye was beginning to form. Early on November 20, Viola was upgraded to a typhoon. Viola then started to rapidly intensify and reached peak intensity on November 21 with winds of 145 mph. Viola recurved away from Luzon on November 22. By the next day, the storm had already weakened to a category 1 and further weakened to a tropical storm. Viola dissipated on November 24.Severe Tropical Storm Winnie
A tropical depression developed on November 25. It started to intensify while moving on a north-northwestward track. By November 28, it was upgraded to a tropical storm and was named Winnie. On the 29th, Winnie reached its peak intensity as severe tropical storm with winds of 65 mph. Winnie became extratropical early on November 30.Tropical Depression Garding
Named by PAGASA.Storm names
During the season 28 named tropical cyclones developed in the Western Pacific and were named by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, when it was determined that they had become tropical storms. These names were contributed to a revised list from late 1950. However the JTWC changed their naming scheme by the next year, now including both female and male names.| Nadine | Olive | Polly | Rose | Shirley | Trix | Virginia | Wendy | Agnes | Bonnie | Carmen | Della | Elaine | Faye |
| Gloria | Hester | Irma | Judy | Kit | Lola | Mamie | Nina | Ora | Phyllis | Rita | Tess | Viola | Winnie |
One name, Susan, developed over the Central Pacific and was named from this list. The storm never became a part of the West Pacific basin.