The 1986 season

Hurricane Roslyn (1986)

Hurricane Roslyn reached Category 4 in the Eastern Pacific between October 15, 1986 and October 22, 1986, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Roslyn, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Eastern Pacific
Dates
October 15, 1986 to October 22, 1986
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
19.7
Fastest the center moved
16 kt (18 mph)
Identifier
EP171986

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 2,728 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 13.80 inches (351 mm).

StationTotalPosition
MATAGORDA 213.80 in (351 mm)28.68N 95.97W
SAN BERNARD W/L REFUGE9.72 in (247 mm)28.92N 95.58W
FREEPORT 2 NW8.06 in (205 mm)28.98N 95.38W
BAY CITY WATERWORKS7.02 in (178 mm)28.95N 99.62W
PALACIOS MUNICIPAL AP6.95 in (177 mm)28.72N 96.25W
DAWSONVILLE6.30 in (160 mm)34.42N 84.10W
FORDYCE6.14 in (156 mm)33.82N 92.43W
WALHALLA5.81 in (148 mm)34.75N 83.08W
LAKE TOXAWAY 2 SW5.75 in (146 mm)35.12N 82.97W
CLEVELAND5.73 in (146 mm)34.58N 83.77W
SALEM 5 NNE5.67 in (144 mm)34.95N 82.95W
MAYSVILLE5.58 in (142 mm)34.27N 83.55W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 15, 18:0010.2N 92.7W25 ktTropical depression
Oct 16, 00:0010.3N 94.1W30 ktTropical depression
Oct 16, 06:0010.5N 95.3W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0010.7N 96.8W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0010.8N 98.0W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0011.0N 99.6W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0011.3N 101.0W65 ktHurricane
Oct 17, 12:0011.5N 102.6W75 ktHurricane
Oct 17, 18:0011.7N 104.1W85 ktHurricane
Oct 18, 00:0011.9N 105.3W90 ktHurricane
Oct 18, 06:0012.1N 106.5W100 ktHurricane
Oct 18, 12:0012.3N 107.7W110 ktHurricane
Oct 18, 18:0012.7N 108.8W115 ktHurricane
Oct 19, 00:0013.0N 109.4W120 ktHurricane
Oct 19, 06:0013.4N 110.1W125 ktHurricane
Oct 19, 12:0013.8N 110.7W125 ktHurricane
Oct 19, 18:0014.4N 111.3W125 ktHurricane
Oct 20, 00:0015.2N 111.7W115 ktHurricane
Oct 20, 06:0016.1N 112.1W115 ktHurricane
Oct 20, 12:0017.1N 112.0W90 ktHurricane
Oct 20, 18:0018.1N 111.6W75 ktHurricane
Oct 21, 00:0019.1N 111.1W75 ktHurricane
Oct 21, 06:0020.2N 110.5W75 ktHurricane
Oct 21, 12:0020.8N 109.8W65 ktHurricane
Oct 21, 18:0021.4N 109.0W65 ktHurricane
Oct 22, 00:0022.0N 108.1W65 ktHurricane
Oct 22, 06:0022.7N 107.1W65 ktHurricane
Oct 22, 12:0023.5N 106.0W45 ktExtratropical

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.