The 1980 season

Cyclone Sina (1980)

Cyclone Sina reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between March 9, 1980 and March 16, 1980, with a lowest pressure of 970 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Cyclone Sina. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
March 9, 1980 to March 16, 1980
Peak strength
Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
Lowest pressure
970 mb (28.64 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
5.6
Identifier
SH201980

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
Mar 9, 00:0012.0S 161.0ETropical storm
Mar 9, 06:0012.4S 161.5ETropical storm
Mar 9, 12:0013.0S 162.0ETropical storm
Mar 9, 18:0013.4S 161.5ETropical storm
Mar 10, 00:0013.5S 158.8E30 ktTropical storm
Mar 10, 06:0014.3S 159.2E30 ktTropical storm
Mar 10, 12:0015.0S 159.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 10, 18:0015.5S 159.8E30 kt999 mbTropical storm
Mar 11, 00:0016.0S 160.0E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Mar 11, 06:0016.6S 160.1E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 11, 12:0017.2S 160.2E35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Mar 11, 18:0017.8S 160.3E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Mar 12, 00:0018.5S 160.4E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 12, 06:0019.1S 160.5E45 ktTropical storm
Mar 12, 12:0020.0S 161.2E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 12, 18:0021.4S 162.6E55 ktTropical storm
Mar 13, 00:0022.8S 164.2E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Mar 13, 06:0024.1S 166.0E70 ktTropical storm
Mar 13, 12:0025.5S 167.5E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Mar 13, 18:0027.0S 168.5E60 ktTropical storm
Mar 14, 00:0028.5S 169.5E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 14, 06:0030.0S 170.5E50 ktTropical storm
Mar 14, 12:0031.5S 171.5E45 kt987 mbTropical storm
Mar 14, 18:0033.3S 172.6E45 ktTropical storm
Mar 15, 00:0035.5S 174.0E40 kt987 mbTropical storm
Mar 15, 06:0037.7S 177.3E45 ktTropical storm
Mar 15, 12:0040.0S 179.0W50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 15, 18:0042.0S 176.7W50 ktTropical storm
Mar 16, 00:0044.0S 175.0W50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 16, 06:0046.7S 173.8W50 ktTropical storm
Mar 16, 12:0050.0S 173.0W45 kt990 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.