The 1985 season

Cyclone Monica (1985)

Cyclone Monica reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between December 25, 1984 and January 3, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 982 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Monica, 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
South Pacific
Dates
December 25, 1984 to January 3, 1985
Peak strength
Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
Lowest pressure
982 mb (29.00 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 208 km (129 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.9
Identifier
SH061985

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
Dec 25, 12:0012.0S 146.0ENot reported
Dec 25, 18:0012.6S 145.1E25 ktXX
Dec 26, 00:0013.1S 146.4E25 kt998 mbXX
Dec 26, 06:0013.7S 147.8E30 kt997 mbXX
Dec 26, 12:0014.4S 149.1E30 kt996 mbXX
Dec 26, 18:0015.1S 150.5E35 kt992 mbXX
Dec 27, 00:0015.8S 151.7E40 kt992 mbXX
Dec 27, 06:0016.5S 152.8E50 kt988 mbXX
Dec 27, 12:0017.3S 154.0E55 kt986 mbXX
Dec 27, 18:0018.3S 155.3E65 kt982 mbXX
Dec 28, 00:0019.2S 156.7E70 kt985 mbXX
Dec 28, 06:0020.2S 158.1E65 kt985 mbXX
Dec 28, 12:0021.1S 159.5E60 kt985 mbXX
Dec 28, 18:0022.0S 160.9E55 kt987 mbXX
Dec 29, 00:0023.3S 162.5E50 kt987 mbXX
Dec 29, 06:0024.9S 164.2E40 ktXX
Dec 29, 12:0028.0S 163.0E40 kt990 mbXX
Dec 29, 18:0029.7S 162.7ENot reported
Dec 30, 00:0031.0S 162.0E50 kt985 mbNot reported
Dec 30, 06:0031.8S 161.2ENot reported
Dec 30, 12:0032.6S 160.5E50 kt985 mbNot reported
Dec 30, 18:0034.3S 160.0ENot reported
Dec 31, 00:0036.0S 159.6ENot reported
Dec 31, 06:0037.0S 158.9ENot reported
Dec 31, 12:0037.7S 158.3ENot reported
Dec 31, 18:0038.2S 157.8ENot reported
Jan 1, 00:0038.7S 157.5ENot reported
Jan 1, 06:0039.5S 157.3ENot reported
Jan 1, 12:0040.5S 157.5ENot reported
Jan 1, 18:0041.5S 158.3ENot reported
Jan 2, 00:0042.7S 159.5ENot reported
Jan 2, 06:0044.0S 160.9ENot reported
Jan 2, 12:0045.6S 162.7E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Jan 2, 18:0047.7S 164.7ENot reported
Jan 3, 00:0050.0S 167.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported

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.