The 1985 season

Tropical Storm Gordon (1985)

Tropical Storm Gordon peaked at 45 kt in the Western Pacific between November 19, 1985 and November 26, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 998 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Gordon, 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
November 19, 1985 to November 26, 1985
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 45 kt (52 mph)
Lowest pressure
998 mb (29.47 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
1.6
Identifier
WP251985

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
Nov 19, 00:005.0N 107.0EDisturbance
Nov 19, 06:006.0N 107.4EDisturbance
Nov 19, 12:006.9N 107.9EDisturbance
Nov 19, 18:006.8N 108.1E25 ktDisturbance
Nov 20, 00:008.0N 109.2E25 ktTropical storm
Nov 20, 06:008.2N 110.2E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Nov 20, 12:008.1N 111.0E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 20, 18:008.0N 111.6E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 00:008.0N 112.1E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 06:008.1N 112.3E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 12:008.3N 112.6E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 18:008.6N 112.7E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 00:008.8N 112.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 06:009.0N 112.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 12:009.1N 112.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 18:009.3N 112.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 00:009.5N 112.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 06:009.8N 112.3E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 12:0010.1N 112.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 18:0010.4N 112.4E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 00:0010.8N 112.4E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 06:0011.3N 112.4E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 12:0011.8N 112.2E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 18:0012.1N 111.7E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 00:0012.2N 111.0E45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 06:0012.3N 110.2E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 12:0012.6N 109.4E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 18:0013.0N 108.8E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 00:0013.5N 108.3E20 kt1008 mbTropical storm

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.