1988 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Nelson 1988
Typhoon Nelson intensified rapidly over the Philippine Sea in October 1988 before turning northeast near Okinawa. Its center stayed offshore, but rain reached the island as the storm began weakening.
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161 mph
Oct 4, 1988 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Rapid development after a quiet interval
Nelson formed within the monsoon trough after a lull in western Pacific cyclone activity. Its thunderstorms organized near the end of September, and it became a tropical storm on 1 October. Moving west and then west-northwest, it developed an eye and strengthened into a typhoon.
Rapid deepening brought Nelson to peak archived one-minute winds of 140 kt on 4 October. The storm then rounded the western edge of the subtropical ridge and accelerated northeast, beginning a gradual decline in intensity.
Passing southeast of Okinawa
Nelson passed about 155 km southeast of Okinawa, where 212 mm of rain was recorded. It rapidly lost deep convection as it moved away, transitioning into an extratropical cyclone by 9 October.
The archive follows Nelson's later circulation through 12 October. No recorded center position lies over land during its passage from the Philippine Sea into the northern Pacific.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Nelson in brief
What was Typhoon Nelson's highest wind speed?
161 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Oct 4, 1988, 12:00 PM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Nelson?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Oct 4, 1988, 12:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Nelson's lowest pressure?
915 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Oct 4, 1988, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Nelson occur?
The archived track runs from Sep 30, 1988, 06:00 AM UTC to Oct 12, 1988, 06:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Sep 30, 1988, 06:00 AM UTC to Oct 8, 1988, 09:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Nelson form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1988 season. Its first archived position is 11.8°N, 141.7°E on Sep 30, 1988, 06:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Nelson make landfall?
No archived position places Typhoon Nelson's center over land, but positions are six-hourly and a brief landfall can fall between them.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology