The 1987 season

Cyclone Kay (1987)

Cyclone Kay reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between April 6, 1987 and April 17, 1987, with a lowest pressure of 976 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Kay, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1987 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
South Pacific
Dates
April 6, 1987 to April 17, 1987
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
976 mb (28.82 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.9
Identifier
SH231987

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 6, 00:0011.1S 143.7E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 06:0010.7S 143.6E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 12:0010.3S 143.2E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 18:009.9S 142.8E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 7, 00:009.5S 142.3E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 7, 06:009.2S 141.6E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 7, 12:008.9S 141.0E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 7, 18:008.7S 140.2E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 8, 00:008.6S 139.6E35 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 06:008.5S 139.1E35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 12:008.6S 138.0E35 kt993 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 18:009.0S 137.1E35 kt993 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 00:009.3S 136.3E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 06:009.8S 135.5E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 12:0010.3S 134.4E45 kt987 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 18:0010.8S 133.4E45 kt987 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 00:0011.1S 132.6E45 kt987 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 06:0011.1S 131.8E45 kt987 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 12:0011.2S 130.9E45 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 18:0011.4S 129.7E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 00:0011.7S 128.5E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 06:0012.1S 127.3E45 kt993 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 12:0012.4S 126.2E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 18:0012.9S 125.1E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 00:0013.4S 124.2E50 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 06:0013.7S 123.5E50 kt984 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 12:0014.0S 122.8E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 18:0014.3S 122.1E65 kt976 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 00:0014.6S 121.4E65 kt976 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 06:0014.9S 121.0E65 kt976 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 12:0014.9S 120.6E55 kt976 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 18:0014.9S 120.0E55 kt976 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 00:0014.8S 119.3E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 06:0014.8S 118.6E55 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 12:0014.8S 117.9E55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 18:0014.9S 117.1E50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 00:0015.1S 115.9E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 06:0015.5S 114.7E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 12:0015.8S 113.6E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 18:0016.0S 112.7E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 00:0016.6S 111.6E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 06:0017.5S 110.6E35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 12:0018.4S 109.9E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 18:0019.2S 109.2E35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Apr 17, 00:0019.9S 108.1E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm

Other South Pacific storms of 1987

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.