The 1985 season

Cyclone Eric (1985)

Cyclone Eric reached Category 3 in the South Pacific between January 12, 1985 and January 20, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Eric, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
January 12, 1985 to January 20, 1985
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.2
Fastest the center moved
51 kt (59 mph)
Identifier
SH111985

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 12, 00:0015.8S 161.1E25 ktXX
Jan 12, 06:0015.6S 161.3E25 ktXX
Jan 12, 12:0015.5S 161.6E25 ktXX
Jan 12, 18:0015.5S 161.9E25 ktXX
Jan 13, 00:0015.5S 162.2E25 ktXX
Jan 13, 06:0015.4S 162.6E25 ktXX
Jan 13, 12:0015.4S 163.0E25 ktXX
Jan 13, 18:0015.4S 163.4E25 ktXX
Jan 14, 00:0015.4S 163.8E30 kt997 mbXX
Jan 14, 06:0015.4S 164.4E30 ktXX
Jan 14, 12:0015.3S 165.0E30 kt997 mbXX
Jan 14, 18:0015.3S 165.5E35 ktXX
Jan 15, 00:0015.3S 166.1E40 kt990 mbXX
Jan 15, 06:0015.3S 166.9E45 ktXX
Jan 15, 12:0015.4S 167.8E50 kt980 mbXX
Jan 15, 18:0015.6S 168.8E55 ktXX
Jan 16, 00:0015.8S 169.8E60 kt970 mbXX
Jan 16, 06:0016.0S 170.8E65 ktXX
Jan 16, 12:0016.2S 171.8E75 kt965 mbXX
Jan 16, 18:0016.5S 173.0E80 ktXX
Jan 17, 00:0016.8S 174.4E90 kt955 mbXX
Jan 17, 06:0017.3S 175.9E95 ktXX
Jan 17, 12:0018.0S 178.0E100 kt960 mbXX
Jan 17, 18:0018.9S 179.4W95 ktXX
Jan 18, 00:0019.9S 176.5W90 kt970 mbXX
Jan 18, 06:0020.8S 173.6W85 ktXX
Jan 18, 12:0021.8S 170.6W75 kt980 mbXX
Jan 18, 18:0022.8S 167.5W70 ktXX
Jan 19, 00:0024.0S 164.3W60 kt987 mbXX
Jan 19, 06:0025.4S 160.9W55 ktXX
Jan 19, 12:0027.3S 157.3W45 kt990 mbXX
Jan 19, 18:0030.0S 153.5W40 ktXX
Jan 20, 00:0033.5S 149.5W30 kt995 mbXX

Other South 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.