The 1986 season

Tropical Storm Sarah (1986)

Tropical Storm Sarah peaked at 55 kt in the Western Pacific between July 28, 1986 and August 9, 1986, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Sarah, 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
Western Pacific
Dates
July 28, 1986 to August 9, 1986
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 55 kt (63 mph)
Lowest pressure
980 mb (28.94 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 42 km (26 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.4
Identifier
WP091986

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
Jul 28, 00:0012.9N 138.8EDisturbance
Jul 28, 06:0013.0N 138.9EDisturbance
Jul 28, 12:0013.1N 138.9EDisturbance
Jul 28, 18:0013.3N 138.6EDisturbance
Jul 29, 00:0013.6N 137.9EDisturbance
Jul 29, 06:0013.6N 137.6EDisturbance
Jul 29, 12:0013.6N 136.6E1002 mbMixed
Jul 29, 18:0013.8N 134.8E1002 mbMixed
Jul 30, 00:0014.1N 133.3E1002 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 06:0014.5N 132.0E1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 12:0015.2N 130.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 18:0015.5N 129.3E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 00:0015.9N 128.1E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 06:0016.3N 126.9E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 12:0016.6N 125.8E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 18:0016.7N 125.0E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 00:0016.9N 124.2E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 06:0017.1N 124.2E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 12:0017.4N 124.0E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 18:0018.0N 124.1E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 00:0018.5N 124.8E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 06:0019.0N 125.3E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 12:0019.8N 126.2E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 18:0020.5N 126.9E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 00:0021.3N 127.8E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 06:0022.0N 128.5E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 12:0023.3N 129.6E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 18:0025.3N 131.6E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 00:0027.8N 133.8E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 06:0030.3N 136.7E35 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 12:0033.3N 139.9E30 kt980 mbMixed
Aug 4, 18:0036.2N 143.0E30 kt982 mbMixed
Aug 5, 00:0037.3N 141.8E982 mbExtratropical
Aug 5, 06:0037.9N 142.7E984 mbExtratropical
Aug 5, 12:0038.4N 143.6E988 mbExtratropical
Aug 5, 18:0038.3N 143.7E992 mbExtratropical
Aug 6, 00:0038.0N 144.0E996 mbExtratropical
Aug 6, 06:0038.0N 144.0E998 mbExtratropical
Aug 6, 12:0038.0N 144.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 6, 18:0038.0N 144.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 7, 00:0037.0N 145.0E1000 mbExtratropical
Aug 7, 06:0036.0N 145.0E1002 mbExtratropical
Aug 7, 12:0036.0N 145.0E1004 mbExtratropical
Aug 7, 18:0036.0N 145.0E1006 mbExtratropical
Aug 8, 00:0035.0N 145.0E1008 mbExtratropical
Aug 8, 06:0035.0N 145.0E1008 mbExtratropical
Aug 8, 12:0035.0N 145.0E1008 mbExtratropical
Aug 8, 18:0035.0N 146.0E1010 mbExtratropical
Aug 9, 00:0035.0N 147.0E1012 mbExtratropical

Other Western 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.