The 1980 season

Tropical Storm Wally (1980)

Tropical Storm Wally peaked at 50 kt in the South Pacific between April 1, 1980 and April 8, 1980, with a lowest pressure of 995 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Wally, 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
April 1, 1980 to April 8, 1980
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 50 kt (58 mph)
Lowest pressure
995 mb (29.38 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.2
Identifier
SH281980

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
Apr 1, 00:0015.2S 177.5W30 ktTropical storm
Apr 1, 06:0015.0S 178.1W30 ktTropical storm
Apr 1, 12:0014.8S 178.7W30 ktTropical storm
Apr 1, 18:0014.5S 179.2W30 ktTropical storm
Apr 2, 00:0014.3S 179.5W30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 2, 06:0014.5S 179.7W30 ktTropical storm
Apr 2, 12:0014.8S 179.8W35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 2, 18:0014.9S 179.8E35 ktTropical storm
Apr 3, 00:0015.0S 179.5E40 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 3, 06:0015.1S 179.4E40 ktTropical storm
Apr 3, 12:0015.1S 179.2E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 3, 18:0015.2S 179.1E45 ktTropical storm
Apr 4, 00:0015.3S 178.9E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 4, 06:0015.7S 178.4E50 ktTropical storm
Apr 4, 12:0016.1S 177.9E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 4, 18:0016.5S 177.8E50 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 00:0017.0S 177.7E50 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 5, 06:0017.9S 177.6E50 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 12:0019.3S 177.5E45 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 5, 18:0021.0S 178.1E45 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 00:0022.6S 179.5E40 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 6, 06:0024.1S 179.1W35 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 12:0025.6S 177.0W30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 6, 18:0027.1S 173.8W30 ktTropical storm
Apr 7, 00:0028.2S 170.6W30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 06:0028.6S 167.8W30 ktTropical storm
Apr 7, 12:0028.6S 165.0W30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 18:0028.6S 162.0W30 ktTropical storm
Apr 8, 00:0028.5S 159.0W30 ktTropical 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.