page_title: Tropical Storm Tess (1988)
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Tropical Storm Tess (1988) / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: Saffir-Simpson Hurricane ScaleTDTS12345 English: Typhoon Tess 1988 track. Uses the color scheme from the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
context_page_description: Tropical Storm Tess known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Welpring was the second of three tropical cyclones to directly impact the Philippines in a two-week time frame in 1988. An area of disturbed weather near the Philippines was first observed on November 1. Following an increase in organization, the disturbance was designated as a tropical cyclone on November 4. Moving west, Tess steadily strengthened due to favorable conditions aloft. During the evening of November 5, Tess was estimated to have achieved its highest intensity, with winds of 115 km/h. Rapid weakening then ensured as Tess neared Vietnam, and after making landfall in the country on November 6, Tess dissipated the next day.
  Tropical Storm Tess and its precursor disturbance brought extensive flooding to much of the central Philippines. In Cebu, eight people were killed, and many homes and bridges were destroyed. The province of Palawan, a geographically isolated island from the rest of the country, suffered severe damage due to mudslides and flooding. There, 75 people were confirmed to have died, and 600 others were later presumed to have perished.
context_section_description: In what would later become the second of two tropical cyclones to form within the basin during November 1988, an area of disturbed weather was first noted by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) early on November 1. Six hours later, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) started following the system. The same day, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration also started to track the storm and assigned it with the local name Welpring.
  Over the next three days, the disturbance tracked southwest while embedded within the northeasterly flow of the winter monsoon. After passing through the Visayas island group and emerging into the open water of the Sulu Sea, the system began to increase in organization. At 17:30 UTC on November 3, the JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert. At 00:00 UTC the next day, the JTWC classified the system as a tropical depression, citing satellite intensity estimates of 55 km/h (35 mph), while the JMA upgraded it to tropical storm intensity. At this time, the tropical cyclone was centered 620 km (385 mi) south of Manila.
  Almost immediately after the upgrades, the storm's track shifted from southwestward to westward in response to a trough weakening to the north; this also weakened the pressure gradient between the trough and a nearby ridge starting on November 4. In turn, wind shear decreased and allowed the storm to intensify. Following an increase in satellite intensity estimates, the JTWC upgraded the depression into a tropical storm, and named it Tess, at 06:00 UTC. As the storm tracked over the South China Sea, strengthening continued. On November 5, the JMA upgraded Tess into a severe tropical storm. At midday, the JTWC estimated that Tess attained typhoon intensity, which was also its maximum intensity of 120 km/h (75 mph). At 18:00 UTC on November 5, the JMA reported that Tess attained winds of 115 km/h (70 mph) and a barometric pressure of 975 mbar (30 inHg), its peak intensities in terms of both winds and pressure. Data from the JTWC suggests the storm weakened rapidly as it approached Vietnam. At 00:00 UTC on November 6, the JTWC stopped tracking the system; however, intensity estimates from the JMA had only decreased slightly during this time, and continued to classify Tess as a severe tropical storm. Tess then moved across the Mekong River delta, moving ashore midday about 240 km (150 mi) east-northeast of Ho Chi Minh City. By early November 7, the JMA stopped tracking the system.
caption: Map plotting the track and the intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
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