The 1986 season

Cyclone Namu (1986)

Cyclone Namu reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between May 15, 1986 and May 23, 1986, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Namu, 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
May 15, 1986 to May 23, 1986
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.1
Fastest the center moved
15 kt (17 mph)
Identifier
SH331986

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
May 15, 00:007.1S 160.2ETropical storm
May 15, 06:007.1S 160.3ETropical storm
May 15, 12:005.3S 161.0E25 ktTropical storm
May 15, 18:005.4S 161.5E25 ktTropical storm
May 16, 00:005.6S 162.0E25 ktTropical storm
May 16, 06:005.8S 162.6E28 ktTropical storm
May 16, 12:006.2S 163.3E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
May 16, 18:006.7S 164.0E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
May 17, 00:007.3S 164.5E40 kt997 mbTropical storm
May 17, 06:007.8S 164.4E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 17, 12:008.3S 164.0E50 kt987 mbTropical storm
May 17, 18:008.6S 163.5E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
May 18, 00:008.9S 162.8E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 18, 06:009.2S 162.1E63 kt975 mbTropical storm
May 18, 12:009.5S 161.4E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
May 18, 18:009.8S 160.8E60 kt955 mbTropical storm
May 19, 00:0010.1S 160.2E55 kt955 mbTropical storm
May 19, 06:0010.5S 159.6E55 kt969 mbTropical storm
May 19, 12:0011.1S 159.1E55 kt966 mbTropical storm
May 19, 18:0011.9S 158.7E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
May 20, 00:0012.9S 158.5E65 kt963 mbTropical storm
May 20, 06:0013.7S 158.3E73 kt961 mbTropical storm
May 20, 12:0014.6S 158.4E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
May 20, 18:0015.7S 158.9E80 kt964 mbTropical storm
May 21, 00:0016.7S 159.7E80 kt972 mbTropical storm
May 21, 06:0017.3S 160.5E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
May 21, 12:0017.7S 161.4E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 21, 18:0018.2S 162.3E50 kt997 mbTropical storm
May 22, 00:0018.6S 163.1E40 kt997 mbTropical storm
May 22, 06:0018.9S 163.9E35 ktNot reported
May 22, 12:0019.1S 164.7E30 ktNot reported
May 22, 18:0019.2S 165.6E28 ktNot reported
May 23, 00:0019.2S 166.6E25 ktNot 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.