The 1986 season

Tropical Storm Lex (1986)

Tropical Storm Lex peaked at 40 kt in the Western Pacific between November 29, 1986 and December 9, 1986, with a lowest pressure of 994 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Lex, 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
November 29, 1986 to December 9, 1986
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 40 kt (46 mph)
Lowest pressure
994 mb (29.35 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1234 km (767 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
0.7
Identifier
WP261986

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
Nov 29, 00:004.2N 178.6EDisturbance
Nov 29, 06:004.2N 178.1EDisturbance
Nov 29, 12:004.3N 177.6EDisturbance
Nov 29, 18:004.4N 177.0EDisturbance
Nov 30, 00:004.5N 176.4EDisturbance
Nov 30, 06:004.6N 175.8EDisturbance
Nov 30, 12:004.6N 175.2EDisturbance
Nov 30, 18:004.6N 174.8EDisturbance
Dec 1, 00:004.7N 174.3ETropical storm
Dec 1, 06:004.8N 173.4ETropical storm
Dec 1, 12:005.0N 172.4ETropical storm
Dec 1, 18:005.3N 171.6ETropical storm
Dec 2, 00:005.8N 170.7ETropical storm
Dec 2, 06:006.7N 169.8ETropical storm
Dec 2, 12:007.5N 168.7ETropical storm
Dec 2, 18:007.6N 167.1E1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 3, 00:007.3N 165.5E1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 3, 06:007.2N 164.5E1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 3, 12:007.4N 163.7E1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 3, 18:008.1N 163.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Dec 4, 00:008.1N 162.1E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Dec 4, 06:008.3N 161.3E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Dec 4, 12:008.7N 160.5E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Dec 4, 18:009.4N 159.6E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Dec 5, 00:009.8N 158.7E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Dec 5, 06:0010.2N 157.5E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 5, 12:0010.6N 156.4E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 5, 18:0011.0N 155.4E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 6, 00:0011.3N 154.4E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 6, 06:0011.6N 153.0E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 6, 12:0011.9N 151.0E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 6, 18:0012.3N 148.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 7, 00:0013.6N 146.9E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 7, 06:0015.5N 142.9E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 7, 12:0017.5N 142.4E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 7, 18:0019.3N 141.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 8, 00:0020.8N 141.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 8, 06:0022.3N 141.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 8, 12:0023.3N 142.4E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Dec 8, 18:0024.5N 144.2E25 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Dec 9, 00:0025.3N 146.7E25 ktTropical storm
Dec 9, 06:0025.8N 149.6E25 ktNot reported

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.