The 1980 season

Cyclone Peni (1980)

Cyclone Peni reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between January 1, 1980 and January 6, 1980, with a lowest pressure of 970 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Peni, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1980 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
January 1, 1980 to January 6, 1980
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
970 mb (28.64 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 76 km (47 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.3
Identifier
SH051980

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jan 1, 00:0012.5S 172.5E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 1, 06:0011.9S 172.4E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 1, 12:0011.5S 172.5E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 1, 18:0011.2S 172.7E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 2, 00:0011.2S 173.0E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 06:0011.6S 173.2E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 2, 12:0012.0S 173.5E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 18:0012.5S 174.0E35 ktTropical storm
Jan 3, 00:0013.0S 174.5E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 06:0013.9S 174.8E40 ktTropical storm
Jan 3, 12:0015.0S 175.0E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 18:0016.2S 175.3E60 ktTropical storm
Jan 4, 00:0017.5S 175.8E65 kt987 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 06:0018.6S 176.8E60 ktTropical storm
Jan 4, 12:0019.5S 178.0E50 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 18:0019.6S 179.2E35 ktTropical storm
Jan 5, 00:0019.6S 179.3W30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 06:0020.2S 177.2W25 ktTropical storm
Jan 5, 12:0020.8S 175.0W25 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 18:0021.4S 172.8W25 ktTropical storm
Jan 6, 00:0022.0S 170.5W30 kt997 mbTropical storm

Other South Pacific storms of 1980

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.