The 1985 season

Cyclone Freda (1985)

Cyclone Freda reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between January 24, 1985 and January 30, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Freda, 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 24, 1985 to January 30, 1985
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1137 km (706 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
5.7
Identifier
SH151985

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 24, 12:0014.9S 156.6W25 ktXX
Jan 24, 18:0015.3S 156.9W30 ktXX
Jan 25, 00:0015.8S 157.3W30 ktXX
Jan 25, 06:0016.2S 157.8W30 ktXX
Jan 25, 12:0016.7S 158.3W30 kt997 mbXX
Jan 25, 18:0017.1S 158.9W35 ktXX
Jan 26, 00:0017.6S 159.7W35 kt997 mbXX
Jan 26, 06:0018.4S 160.6W35 ktXX
Jan 26, 12:0019.3S 161.6W35 kt985 mbXX
Jan 26, 18:0019.9S 162.6W35 ktXX
Jan 27, 00:0020.6S 163.7W35 kt975 mbXX
Jan 27, 06:0021.3S 164.8W40 ktXX
Jan 27, 12:0022.0S 165.9W45 kt965 mbXX
Jan 27, 18:0022.8S 167.1W50 ktXX
Jan 28, 00:0023.7S 168.3W60 kt955 mbXX
Jan 28, 06:0024.6S 169.5W65 ktXX
Jan 28, 12:0025.7S 170.8W75 kt960 mbXX
Jan 28, 18:0027.0S 171.7W80 ktXX
Jan 29, 00:0028.4S 172.4W75 kt970 mbXX
Jan 29, 06:0029.6S 172.7W70 ktXX
Jan 29, 12:0030.8S 172.2W65 kt980 mbXX
Jan 29, 18:0032.4S 170.6W60 ktXX
Jan 30, 00:0034.1S 167.9W50 kt985 mbXX
Jan 30, 06:0035.3S 164.6W45 ktXX
Jan 30, 12:0036.1S 160.5W35 kt990 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.