The 1986 season

Cyclone Manu (1986)

Cyclone Manu reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between April 21, 1986 and April 27, 1986, with a lowest pressure of 970 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Manu, 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
South Pacific
Dates
April 21, 1986 to April 27, 1986
Peak strength
Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
Lowest pressure
970 mb (28.64 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
4.6
Identifier
SH311986

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
Apr 21, 00:007.9S 155.9E20 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 06:008.2S 156.0E20 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 12:008.3S 156.0E20 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 18:008.5S 156.0E20 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 00:008.8S 155.9E20 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 06:009.2S 155.7E20 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 12:009.6S 155.3E20 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 18:0010.0S 155.0E25 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 00:0010.4S 154.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 06:0011.2S 153.8E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 12:0011.6S 153.1E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 18:0012.1S 152.3E55 kt991 mbTropical storm
Apr 24, 00:0012.7S 151.2E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 24, 06:0013.2S 150.2E65 kt976 mbTropical storm
Apr 24, 12:0013.5S 149.6E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Apr 24, 18:0013.9S 149.0E70 kt974 mbTropical storm
Apr 25, 00:0014.2S 148.3E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 25, 06:0014.6S 147.7E65 kt987 mbTropical storm
Apr 25, 12:0014.9S 147.2E65 kt991 mbTropical storm
Apr 25, 18:0015.2S 146.7E60 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 26, 00:0015.5S 146.2E55 kt996 mbTropical storm
Apr 26, 06:0015.9S 145.8E50 kt998 mbTropical storm
Apr 26, 12:0015.6S 145.2E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Apr 26, 18:0015.8S 144.9E20 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Apr 27, 00:0016.0S 144.6E20 kt1007 mbTropical storm

Other South 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.