1978 Eastern Pacific hurricane season
Hurricane Rita 1978
Rita crossed a vast stretch of the Pacific before striking Luzon in October 1978. Known as Typhoon Kading in the Philippines, it became exceptionally intense over the western Pacific and left widespread destruction on the island.
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173 mph
Oct 25, 1978 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
A long Pacific crossing
The archived record begins east of the International Date Line on 15 October. Rita moved rapidly west through the Marshall Islands region and strengthened into a typhoon. Its peak archived one-minute winds reached 150 kt on 23 October, followed by a minimum pressure of 880 hPa on 25 October.
Rita passed near Guam, where banana plantations suffered heavy damage, then continued toward Luzon. It crossed the island overnight on 26 October, damaging communities and leaving about 200,000 people homeless.
A weakening storm and dangerous seas
The Luzon crossing weakened Rita substantially, but its broad circulation maintained strong winds over the South China Sea. An incoming winter monsoon added to the rough conditions and prompted wind warnings in Hong Kong.
Cold, dry air from the monsoon helped disrupt the typhoon. Rita slowed and turned southwest, losing its organized circulation near Vietnam. Shipping remained exposed to dangerous seas: the cargo ship M.V. Toubkal grounded on Scarborough Shoal and broke in two during the later phase of the storm.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Rita in brief
What was Hurricane Rita's highest wind speed?
173 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Oct 23, 1978, 06:00 AM UTC.
What category was Hurricane Rita?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Oct 22, 1978, 09:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Hurricane Rita's lowest pressure?
880 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Oct 25, 1978, 06:00 AM UTC.
When did Hurricane Rita occur?
The archived track runs from Oct 15, 1978, 12:00 AM UTC to Oct 30, 1978, 06:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Oct 15, 1978, 12:00 AM UTC to Oct 30, 1978, 06:00 AM UTC.
Where did Hurricane Rita form?
In the Eastern Pacific basin, in the 1978 season. Its first archived position is 10°N, 174.6°W on Oct 15, 1978, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Hurricane Rita make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 2 recorded positions; the strongest is 115 mph on Oct 26, 1978, 06:00 PM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
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