The 1986 season

Hurricane Paine (1986)

Hurricane Paine reached Category 2 in the Eastern Pacific between September 28, 1986 and October 2, 1986, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Paine, 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
Eastern Pacific
Dates
September 28, 1986 to October 2, 1986
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
4.7
Fastest the center moved
26 kt (30 mph)
Identifier
EP161986

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.

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,360 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 11.35 inches (288 mm).

StationTotalPosition
FORT SCOTT11.35 in (288 mm)37.85N 94.72W
PONCA CITY MUNI AP10.84 in (275 mm)36.73N 97.10W
WELLINGTON10.39 in (264 mm)34.85N 100.22W
MCCAMEY10.20 in (259 mm)31.13N 102.20W
ENID10.09 in (256 mm)36.42N 97.87W
HALE10.07 in (256 mm)37.22N 96.05W
NEWKIRK 1 NW10.00 in (254 mm)36.88N 97.07W
TRUMAN DAM & RESERVOIR9.82 in (249 mm)38.25N 93.40W
SEDAN9.51 in (242 mm)37.13N 96.18W
WALNUT 3 S9.38 in (238 mm)37.55N 95.07W
GALESBURG9.27 in (235 mm)37.47N 95.35W
ELK CITY LAKE9.25 in (235 mm)37.28N 95.78W

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 28, 00:0011.5N 93.0W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 28, 06:0011.5N 94.6W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 28, 12:0011.6N 96.2W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 28, 18:0011.8N 97.9W25 ktTropical depression
Sep 29, 00:0012.4N 99.4W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 29, 06:0013.0N 100.7W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 29, 12:0013.7N 102.0W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 29, 18:0014.5N 103.3W30 ktTropical depression
Sep 30, 00:0015.4N 104.5W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 30, 06:0016.3N 105.6W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 30, 12:0017.2N 106.6W35 ktTropical storm
Sep 30, 18:0018.0N 107.3W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 1, 00:0018.9N 108.0W70 ktHurricane
Oct 1, 06:0019.7N 108.7W70 ktHurricane
Oct 1, 12:0020.5N 109.1W75 ktHurricane
Oct 1, 18:0021.5N 109.2W80 ktHurricane
Oct 2, 00:0022.5N 109.1W85 ktHurricane
Oct 2, 06:0023.7N 108.9W80 ktHurricane
Oct 2, 12:0025.1N 108.6W80 ktHurricane
Oct 2, 18:0027.2N 107.3W25 ktTropical depression

Other Eastern 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.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.