The 1985 season

Cyclone Nigel (1985)

Cyclone Nigel reached Category 3 in the South Pacific between January 14, 1985 and January 28, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Nigel, 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
January 14, 1985 to January 28, 1985
Peak strength
Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.5
Fastest the center moved
25 kt (29 mph)
Identifier
SH131985

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 14, 00:0016.3S 150.9E25 ktXX
Jan 14, 06:0016.3S 151.4E25 kt1005 mbXX
Jan 14, 12:0016.4S 151.9E25 kt1001 mbXX
Jan 14, 18:0016.4S 152.4E25 kt1001 mbXX
Jan 15, 00:0016.5S 152.9E25 kt1000 mbXX
Jan 15, 06:0016.4S 153.7E25 kt1003 mbXX
Jan 15, 12:0016.2S 154.5E30 kt1000 mbXX
Jan 15, 18:0016.1S 155.3E30 kt1000 mbXX
Jan 16, 00:0016.0S 156.1E35 kt998 mbXX
Jan 16, 06:0016.0S 157.3E40 kt998 mbXX
Jan 16, 12:0015.9S 158.7E50 kt996 mbXX
Jan 16, 18:0015.8S 160.1E55 ktXX
Jan 17, 00:0015.7S 161.5E65 kt980 mbXX
Jan 17, 06:0015.6S 163.0E70 ktXX
Jan 17, 12:0015.5S 164.6E75 kt970 mbXX
Jan 17, 18:0015.5S 166.2E75 ktXX
Jan 18, 00:0015.5S 167.9E80 kt965 mbXX
Jan 18, 06:0015.6S 169.5E85 ktXX
Jan 18, 12:0015.8S 171.2E90 kt960 mbXX
Jan 18, 18:0016.2S 173.1E100 ktXX
Jan 19, 00:0016.7S 175.3E105 kt955 mbXX
Jan 19, 06:0017.3S 177.7E100 ktXX
Jan 19, 12:0018.0S 179.9W85 kt987 mbXX
Jan 19, 18:0018.7S 177.5W70 ktXX
Jan 20, 00:0019.4S 175.1W60 kt987 mbXX
Jan 20, 06:0019.9S 172.8W50 ktXX
Jan 20, 12:0020.2S 170.8W40 kt987 mbXX
Jan 20, 18:0020.5S 169.1W35 ktXX
Jan 21, 00:0020.8S 167.7W30 kt990 mbXX
Jan 21, 06:0021.5S 191.4EXX
Jan 21, 12:0021.5S 192.2E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Jan 21, 18:0021.5S 193.2ENot reported
Jan 22, 00:0021.5S 194.0E35 kt995 mbNot reported
Jan 22, 06:0021.4S 194.5ENot reported
Jan 22, 12:0021.4S 194.9E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Jan 22, 18:0021.4S 195.2ENot reported
Jan 23, 00:0021.5S 195.4E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Jan 23, 06:0021.5S 195.5ENot reported
Jan 23, 12:0021.5S 195.6ENot reported
Jan 23, 18:0021.5S 195.5ENot reported
Jan 24, 00:0021.5S 195.4E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Jan 24, 06:0021.5S 195.4ENot reported
Jan 24, 12:0021.6S 195.2ENot reported
Jan 24, 18:0021.7S 194.9ENot reported
Jan 25, 00:0021.9S 194.4E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Jan 25, 06:0022.2S 193.7ENot reported
Jan 25, 12:0022.6S 192.8ENot reported
Jan 25, 18:0023.0S 191.6ENot reported
Jan 26, 00:0023.4S 190.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Jan 26, 06:0023.8S 188.0ENot reported
Jan 26, 12:0024.2S 186.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Jan 26, 18:0024.5S 184.4ENot reported
Jan 27, 00:0024.8S 182.9E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Jan 27, 06:0025.2S 181.1ENot reported
Jan 27, 12:0026.1S 179.5E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Jan 27, 18:0027.8S 178.2ENot reported
Jan 28, 00:0030.0S 177.0E30 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.