The 1985 season

Hurricane Juan (1985)

Hurricane Juan reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between October 26, 1985 and November 1, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 971 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Juan, 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
North Atlantic
Dates
October 26, 1985 to November 1, 1985
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
971 mb (28.67 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.1
Fastest the center moved
17 kt (20 mph)
Identifier
AL121985

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.

Landfall

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Oct 29, 11:00Patterson, LA, 23 km away29.5N 91.4W65 kt (75 mph)974 mb

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 3,166 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 17.78 inches (452 mm).

StationTotalPosition
GALLIANO17.78 in (452 mm)29.47N 90.30W
JENNINGS15.21 in (386 mm)30.20N 92.67W
DE QUINCY13.66 in (347 mm)30.43N 93.47W
LONGVILLE13.02 in (331 mm)30.60N 93.23W
GRAND ISLE13.00 in (330 mm)29.23N 90.00W
THIBODAUX 3 ESE12.94 in (329 mm)29.78N 90.78W
ALTO 5 SW12.84 in (326 mm)31.62N 95.13W
BEAVER FIRE TOWER12.83 in (326 mm)30.80N 92.50W
EUNICE12.70 in (323 mm)30.50N 92.43W
KINDER 3 W12.67 in (322 mm)30.50N 92.90W
OBERLIN FIRE TOWER12.44 in (316 mm)30.60N 92.77W
MITTIE 2 SE12.34 in (313 mm)30.70N 92.88W

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 26, 00:0024.5N 90.5W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Oct 26, 06:0024.2N 91.5W30 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Oct 26, 12:0023.8N 92.5W35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Oct 26, 18:0024.4N 92.8W40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 00:0024.6N 92.0W45 kt993 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 06:0025.3N 92.2W50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 12:0025.7N 91.5W55 kt986 mbTropical storm
Oct 27, 18:0026.4N 91.1W60 kt984 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 00:0027.8N 91.2W65 kt982 mbHurricane
Oct 28, 06:0028.6N 91.5W70 kt975 mbHurricane
Oct 28, 12:0029.4N 92.0W75 kt972 mbHurricane
Oct 28, 18:0029.3N 93.0W75 kt971 mbHurricane
Oct 29, 00:0028.9N 92.5W75 kt973 mbHurricane
Oct 29, 06:0029.0N 91.9W70 kt975 mbHurricane
Oct 29, 11:00 landfall29.5N 91.4W65 kt974 mbHurricane
Oct 29, 12:0029.6N 91.3W65 kt974 mbHurricane
Oct 29, 18:0030.3N 91.9W60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 00:0030.1N 92.3W60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 06:0029.8N 92.2W55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 12:0029.6N 92.1W55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 18:0029.3N 91.8W55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 00:0029.1N 91.3W55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 06:0028.9N 90.3W55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 12:0029.3N 89.1W60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 18:0030.3N 87.7W55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 00:0031.8N 87.0W40 kt984 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 06:0033.5N 86.7W35 kt986 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 12:0035.2N 86.6W30 kt989 mbExtratropical
Nov 1, 18:0036.8N 87.1W25 kt992 mbExtratropical

Other North Atlantic 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.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.