The 1986 season

Cyclone Martin (1986)

Cyclone Martin reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between April 9, 1986 and April 15, 1986, with a lowest pressure of 970 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Martin, 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 9, 1986 to April 15, 1986
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
970 mb (28.64 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
4.2
Identifier
SH291986

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 9, 00:0012.0S 168.0ETropical storm
Apr 9, 06:0012.1S 168.3ETropical storm
Apr 9, 12:0012.2S 168.5ETropical storm
Apr 9, 18:0011.9S 168.3E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 10, 00:0011.9S 168.9E25 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 06:0012.0S 169.7E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 12:0012.3S 170.7E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 18:0012.6S 171.8E35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 00:0013.0S 172.9E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 06:0013.4S 174.1E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 12:0013.9S 175.2E50 kt987 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 18:0014.5S 176.4E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 00:0015.1S 177.7E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 06:0015.8S 179.0E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 12:0016.6S 179.7W70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 18:0017.4S 178.5W60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 00:0018.0S 177.4W55 kt987 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 06:0018.7S 176.4W50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 12:0019.4S 175.4W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 18:0020.2S 174.4W40 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 00:0020.9S 173.4W35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 06:0021.6S 172.4W35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 12:0022.2S 171.4W35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 18:0022.7S 170.4W30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 00:0023.1S 195.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported

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.