The 1985 season

Cyclone Odette (1985)

Cyclone Odette reached Category 3 in the South Pacific between January 16, 1985 and January 21, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 930 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Odette, 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 16, 1985 to January 21, 1985
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
930 mb (27.46 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 63 km (39 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.0
Identifier
SH141985

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 16, 12:0014.8S 145.8E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 18:0014.7S 146.3E25 kt1002 mbXX
Jan 17, 00:0014.7S 147.6E35 kt1003 mbXX
Jan 17, 06:0014.7S 149.0E45 kt998 mbXX
Jan 17, 12:0014.7S 150.4E55 kt990 mbXX
Jan 17, 18:0014.7S 151.8E65 kt985 mbXX
Jan 18, 00:0015.0S 153.2E75 kt974 mbXX
Jan 18, 06:0015.4S 154.4E80 kt965 mbXX
Jan 18, 12:0015.7S 155.4E85 kt955 mbXX
Jan 18, 18:0015.9S 156.3E90 kt949 mbXX
Jan 19, 00:0016.0S 157.3E95 kt945 mbXX
Jan 19, 06:0016.1S 158.4E100 kt930 mbXX
Jan 19, 12:0016.3S 159.8E100 kt930 mbXX
Jan 19, 18:0016.5S 161.4E90 ktXX
Jan 20, 00:0016.7S 163.1E85 kt970 mbXX
Jan 20, 06:0016.9S 164.8E75 ktXX
Jan 20, 12:0017.4S 166.6E65 kt985 mbXX
Jan 20, 18:0018.2S 168.4E55 ktXX
Jan 21, 00:0019.5S 170.1E50 kt990 mbXX
Jan 21, 06:0020.9S 171.7E40 ktXX
Jan 21, 12:0021.4S 173.1E35 kt997 mbXX
Jan 21, 18:0021.2S 174.4E25 ktXX

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.