The 1986 season

Typhoon Ellen (1986)

Typhoon Ellen reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between October 3, 1986 and October 20, 1986, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Ellen, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1986 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
Western Pacific
Dates
October 3, 1986 to October 20, 1986
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
11.7
Identifier
WP191986

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
Oct 3, 00:006.9N 176.8EDisturbance
Oct 3, 06:006.0N 175.3EDisturbance
Oct 3, 12:005.1N 173.7EDisturbance
Oct 3, 18:004.5N 171.9EDisturbance
Oct 4, 00:004.3N 170.1EDisturbance
Oct 4, 06:004.7N 168.4EDisturbance
Oct 4, 12:005.5N 166.8EDisturbance
Oct 4, 18:006.2N 165.3EDisturbance
Oct 5, 00:006.8N 163.9EDisturbance
Oct 5, 06:007.1N 162.6EDisturbance
Oct 5, 12:007.3N 161.2EDisturbance
Oct 5, 18:007.4N 159.7EDisturbance
Oct 6, 00:007.5N 158.2EDisturbance
Oct 6, 06:007.5N 156.8EDisturbance
Oct 6, 12:007.4N 155.4EDisturbance
Oct 6, 18:007.4N 153.9EDisturbance
Oct 7, 00:007.5N 152.4EDisturbance
Oct 7, 06:007.5N 150.7EDisturbance
Oct 7, 12:007.6N 149.0EDisturbance
Oct 7, 18:007.7N 147.5EDisturbance
Oct 8, 00:007.9N 146.1EDisturbance
Oct 8, 06:007.9N 144.6EDisturbance
Oct 8, 12:008.0N 143.2EDisturbance
Oct 8, 18:008.2N 141.9EDisturbance
Oct 9, 00:008.3N 140.5ETropical storm
Oct 9, 06:008.3N 138.9EMixed
Oct 9, 12:008.3N 137.3E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 18:009.0N 135.4E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 00:009.5N 133.2E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:009.7N 131.4E1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:009.9N 129.6E1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 18:0010.3N 128.0E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 00:0010.8N 126.6E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 06:0011.2N 125.1E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 12:0011.6N 123.7E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 18:0012.0N 122.3E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 00:0012.6N 121.1E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 06:0013.2N 120.0E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 12:0013.9N 119.3E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 18:0014.5N 118.7E50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 00:0015.1N 118.2E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0015.5N 118.0E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0015.9N 118.0E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0016.4N 118.0E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:0016.9N 118.0E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:0017.4N 118.0E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0017.8N 117.3E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0017.9N 117.6E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0018.0N 117.4E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0018.3N 117.3E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0018.6N 117.2E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:0018.8N 117.1E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0019.0N 116.8E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 06:0019.2N 116.5E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0019.4N 116.0E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0019.7N 115.4E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0020.1N 114.9E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0020.4N 114.6E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 12:0020.7N 114.2E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 18:0020.9N 113.9E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 00:0021.1N 113.5E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:0021.1N 113.1E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 12:0021.1N 112.6E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 18:0021.1N 112.0E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 00:0020.1N 111.1E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 06:0020.9N 110.1E1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 12:0021.1N 109.3E1000 mbMixed
Oct 19, 18:0021.2N 108.5E1004 mbMixed
Oct 20, 00:0021.2N 107.4E1008 mbMixed
Oct 20, 06:0022.0N 106.0E1012 mbTropical storm

Other Western Pacific storms of 1986

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.