A REVIEW OF THE 1998 TROPICAL CYCLONE SEASON
FOR THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

Prepared by Gary Padgett
garyp@alaweb.com

Following is a tabular summary of all the tropical depressions, tropical storms, hurricanes, and typhoons which occurred in the Northern Hemisphere between 1 January and 31 December 1998, as reported in the Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summaries prepared by the author.

  1. Number - this is the cyclone warning number assigned by either TPC/NHC, CPHC in Honolulu, or JTWC. If neither of these agencies issued any warnings, no number will be given.
  2. Name - the name (if any) assigned by either TPC/NHC, CPHC, or JTWC (and PAGASA for Western North Pacific systems in their area of warning responsibility).
  3. Dates - range of dates for which tracking information for the cyclone is available in the Global Tropical Cyclone Tracks documents prepared by the author.
  4. Pressure - Lowest central pressure (either estimated or recorded) during the lifetime of the cyclone. For Atlantic and Northeastern Pacific systems these will be the values reported in operational advisories from TPC/NHC or CPHC. For Northwestern Pacific systems the central pressure estimates are taken from advisories issued by the Japanese Meteorological Agency. An asterisk (*) following the pressure indicates the reading was an actual measured pressure normally obtained by a drop- sonde released during an aerial reconnaissance flight. Central pressure is given in millibars, which is numerically equivalent to hectopascals.
  5. MSW - maximum 1-minute average sustained windspeed in knots. For the Northwestern Pacific and North Indian Ocean basins, these will be the highest value assigned operationally by JTWC. For the Atlantic and Northeastern Pacific basins, the MSW values are taken from the preliminary seasonal summary released by TPC/NHC at the end of the official Hurricane Season on 30 November.
For tropical systems in the NWP basin, two additional columns of information are given:
  1. The tropical storm serial number assigned by the Japanese Meteorological Agency to tropical depressions which are deemed to have reached tropical storm intensity. This does not always agree with JTWC's assessment.
  2. An estimate of the maximum 10-minute average sustained wind. These values are taken from either Japan's or Manila's warnings, whichever had the higher value.

A number in parentheses (e.g. (1) ) following an entry refers to a note following the entries for the given basin. A separate table is given for each of the four Northern Hemisphere basins.

ATLANTIC BASIN
NUMNAMEDATES CENT PRS
(mb)		MSW
(kts)
01Alex 27 Jul-02 Aug1000 50
02Bonnie 19-30 Aug 954* 100
03Charley 21-22 Aug 1000*60
04Danielle24 Aug-05 Sep 960*(1) 90
05Earl 31 Aug-08 Sep 985*85
06Frances 08-12 Sep 990*55
07Georges 15-29 Sep 937* 135
08Hermine 17-20 Sep 999*40
09Ivan 20-28 Sep 975 80
10Jeanne 21 Sep-01 Oct 969 90
11Karl 23-29 Sep 970 90
12Lisa 05-09 Oct 995 (1) 65
13Mitch 22 Oct-08 Nov 905* 155
14Nicole 24 Nov-02 Dec 979 75
(1) There were some lower pressures for Danielle and Lisa given in advisories, but these were likely after the storm was more or less extratropical.

NORTHEAST PACFICIC BASIN
NUMNAMEDATES CENT PRS
(mb)		MSW
(kts)
01EAgatha 11-16 Jun 993 55
02E----- 19-22 Jun 1005 30
03EBlas 22-30 Jun 943120
04ECelia 17-21 Jul 997 50
05EDarby 23 Jul-01 Aug 958100
06EEstelle 29 Jul-08 Aug 948115
07EFrank 06-10 Aug 1001 35
08EGeorgette11-17 Aug 960100
01C----- 16-19 Aug 1010 30
09EHoward 21-29 Aug 932130
10EIsis 01-03 Sep 987 65
11EJavier 07-12 Sep 999 45
12E----- 01-03 Oct 1006 30
13EKay 13-17 Oct 987 65
14ELester (1) 15-26 Oct 965100
15EMadeline 16-20 Oct 979*75

(1) - U.S. Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters made some reconnaissance flights into Hurricane Lester, but this was before the storm's most intense phase, as adjudged from satellite imagery.

NORTHWEST PACFICIC BASIN
JTWC
NUM		NAME(S) JMA
TROP STM
NUM		DATES CENT PRS
(mb)		MSW
1-MIN
(kts) 		MSW
10-MIN
(kts)
01WAkang----07-11 Jul10023030
02WNichole 980108-12 Jul9984535
03W---------24-27 Jul10043030
04WOtto/Bising980201-05 Aug9756560
05WPenny/Klaring980306-11 Aug9855550
06WRex/Deling980424 Aug-07 Sep95511575
07W----- ----01-04 Sep10023030
08WStella 980512-18 Sep9706560
09W----- ----13-14 Sep9982530
10WTodd/Emang980616-20 Sep95512075
11WVicki/Gading980717-25 Sep9609085*(1)
12W----- ----18-19 Sep---30--
13WWaldo 980819-22 Sep9944045
14WYanni/Heling980925 Sep-02 Oct9658065
15W----- ----02-06 Oct10003030
16W----- ----05-07 Oct10083030
17W----- ----06-07 Oct---30--
18WZeb/Iliang981009-19 Oct900155130
19WAlex----11-12 Oct---40* (2)--
20WBabs/Loleng981114-27 Oct928*(3) 135105
21WChip(4)981211-15 Nov9945040
22WDawn981318-20 Nov9984035
23WElvis/Miding981422-26 Nov9924540
24WFaith/Norming981508-14 Dec9759065
25WGil981609-13 Dec9963535
26W----- ----17-19 Dec---25--
27W----- ----19-22 Dec---30--

(1) The 10-min MSW of 85 kts was recorded in Japan at the point where Vicki made landfall south of Osaka.

(2) The 1-min MSW of 40 kts was recorded on Rota as the very small center passed by the island.

(3) The 927.9 mb pressure was recorded at Virac on Catanduanes Island.

(4) The remnants of Tropical Storm Chip crossed over the Malay Peninsula and redeveloped in the Bay of Bengal, becoming Tropical Cyclone 07B.

NORTH INDIAN OCEAN BASIN
NUMNAMEDATES CENT PRS
(mb) 		MSW
(kts)
01B----- 18-20 May ----65
02A----- 28-29 May ----35
03A----- 04-09 Jun ----100
04A----- 30 Sep-01 Oct----35
---(1)----- 08-09 Oct ----30
05A ----- 10-17 Oct ----35
---(1)----- 13-14 Oct ----25
---(1)----- 28-29 Oct ----30
06B----- 13-16 Nov ----85
07B(2)----- 17-23 Nov ----75
08A----- 13-17 Dec ----65

(1) These depressions were not classified by JTWC. The MSW were inferred from comments in the daily Tropical Weather Outlooks from the Indian Meteorological Department.

(2) This cyclone was a redevelopment of Tropical Storm Chip which had formed in the South China Sea (NWP Basin) and moved across the Malay Peninsula.