The 1985 season

Tropical Storm Ellis (1985)

Tropical Storm Ellis peaked at 50 kt in the Western Pacific between October 13, 1985 and October 23, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 996 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Ellis, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1985 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
Western Pacific
Dates
October 13, 1985 to October 23, 1985
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 50 kt (58 mph)
Lowest pressure
996 mb (29.41 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 835 km (519 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.8
Identifier
WP231985

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
Oct 13, 00:005.0N 161.7EDisturbance
Oct 13, 06:005.2N 161.1EDisturbance
Oct 13, 12:005.4N 160.5EDisturbance
Oct 13, 18:005.7N 159.8EDisturbance
Oct 14, 00:006.1N 159.0E10 ktTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:006.6N 158.0E10 ktTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:007.1N 157.1E10 ktTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:007.6N 156.1E15 ktTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:008.1N 155.4E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:008.5N 154.7E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:008.8N 154.0E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:009.3N 153.3E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0010.1N 152.8E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 06:0010.6N 152.0E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0010.8N 151.5E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0010.8N 151.2E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0010.8N 150.8E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0010.7N 150.5E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 12:0010.5N 150.3E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 18:0010.0N 150.1E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 00:009.3N 149.9E50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:008.7N 149.7E50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 12:008.2N 149.3E50 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 18:007.7N 148.8E45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 00:007.1N 148.3E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 06:006.6N 147.8E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 12:006.4N 147.2E40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 18:006.3N 146.3E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 00:006.2N 145.3E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 06:007.0N 143.9E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 12:007.8N 142.7E1006 mbMixed
Oct 20, 18:008.4N 141.3E1006 mbMixed
Oct 21, 00:009.0N 139.7E1006 mbMixed
Oct 21, 06:009.2N 138.1E1006 mbMixed
Oct 21, 12:009.8N 136.9E1006 mbMixed
Oct 21, 18:0010.7N 135.9E1006 mbMixed
Oct 22, 00:0012.0N 135.3E1006 mbMixed
Oct 22, 06:0012.5N 134.3E1006 mbMixed
Oct 22, 12:0012.9N 133.6E1006 mbMixed
Oct 22, 18:0013.4N 133.1E1006 mbMixed
Oct 23, 00:0014.0N 133.0E1008 mbMixed

Other Western Pacific storms of 1985

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.