Cyclone Sandy (1985)

Basin

South Pacific

Dates

March 19, 1985 to April 3, 1985

Peak strength

Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)

Lowest pressure

953 mb (28.14 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

15.2

Identifier

SH311985

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.

• Cyclone MonicaSouth Pacific · 1985Cat 170 kt · 982 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1985Tropical Storm45 kt · 987 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1985Tropical Storm45 kt
• Tropical Storm DrenaSouth Pacific · 1985Tropical Storm50 kt · 987 mb
• Cyclone EricSouth Pacific · 1985Cat 3100 kt · 955 mb
• Cyclone NigelSouth Pacific · 1985Cat 3105 kt · 955 mb
• Cyclone OdetteSouth Pacific · 1985Cat 3100 kt · 930 mb
• Cyclone FredaSouth Pacific · 1985Cat 180 kt · 955 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1985Tropical Storm35 kt
• Tropical Storm PierreSouth Pacific · 1985Tropical Storm45 kt · 986 mb
• Tropical Storm RebeccaSouth Pacific · 1985Tropical Storm40 kt · 994 mb
• Tropical Storm GavinSouth Pacific · 1985Tropical Storm55 kt · 985 mb
• Cyclone HinaSouth Pacific · 1985Cat 4135 kt · 910 mb
• Tropical Storm TanyaSouth Pacific · 1985Tropical Storm60 kt · 982 mb
• Tropical Storm GretelSouth Pacific · 1985Tropical Storm45 kt · 984 mb

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.

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.