Tropical Storm Patsy (1987)
Tropical Storm Patsy peaked at 55 kt in the South Pacific between December 12, 1986 and December 22, 1986, with a lowest pressure of 975 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Patsy, 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.
The storm
- Basin
- South Pacific
- Dates
- December 12, 1986 to December 22, 1986
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 55 kt (63 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 975 mb (28.79 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 3.7
- Identifier
- SH031987
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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 12, 06:00 | 12.4S 172.9E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 12, 12:00 | 12.3S 172.8E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 12, 18:00 | 11.9S 172.4E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 13, 00:00 | 11.5S 171.5E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 13, 06:00 | 11.6S 170.4E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 13, 12:00 | 11.8S 169.6E | 30 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 13, 18:00 | 12.1S 169.0E | 30 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 14, 00:00 | 12.3S 168.7E | 30 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 14, 06:00 | 12.4S 168.4E | 30 kt | 987 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 14, 12:00 | 12.6S 168.2E | 30 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 14, 18:00 | 13.0S 168.0E | 35 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 15, 00:00 | 13.5S 167.8E | 40 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 15, 06:00 | 14.2S 167.4E | 50 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 15, 12:00 | 15.0S 166.8E | 50 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 15, 18:00 | 16.0S 166.3E | 55 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 16, 00:00 | 17.1S 166.0E | 50 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 16, 06:00 | 18.1S 166.0E | 50 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 16, 12:00 | 18.9S 166.1E | 45 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 16, 18:00 | 19.7S 166.4E | 45 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 17, 00:00 | 20.8S 166.8E | 40 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 17, 06:00 | 22.0S 167.5E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 17, 12:00 | 23.0S 168.9E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 17, 18:00 | 22.0S 166.3E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 18, 00:00 | 22.3S 166.1E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 18, 06:00 | 22.6S 165.5E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 18, 12:00 | 22.8S 164.0E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 18, 18:00 | 22.2S 164.3E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 19, 00:00 | 22.5S 164.8E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 19, 06:00 | 23.8S 165.2E | Not reported | ||
| Dec 19, 12:00 | 25.8S 165.6E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 19, 18:00 | 27.6S 166.3E | Not reported | ||
| Dec 20, 00:00 | 29.5S 167.0E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 20, 06:00 | 31.1S 167.7E | Not reported | ||
| Dec 20, 12:00 | 32.5S 168.3E | Not reported | ||
| Dec 20, 18:00 | 34.1S 169.0E | Not reported | ||
| Dec 21, 00:00 | 35.9S 169.8E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 21, 06:00 | 38.2S 170.4E | Not reported | ||
| Dec 21, 12:00 | 40.5S 171.7E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 21, 18:00 | 42.6S 174.2E | Not reported | ||
| Dec 22, 00:00 | 44.5S 177.7E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
Other South Pacific storms of 1987
- Tropical Storm OseaSouth Pacific · 1987
- Cyclone RajaSouth Pacific · 1987
- Cyclone SallySouth Pacific · 1987
- Cyclone TusiSouth Pacific · 1987
- Tropical Depression IrmaSouth Pacific · 1987
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1987
- Cyclone Uma:VeliSouth Pacific · 1987
- Cyclone JasonSouth Pacific · 1987
- Tropical Storm VeliSouth Pacific · 1987
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 1987
- Cyclone WiniSouth Pacific · 1987
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1987
- Cyclone YaliSouth Pacific · 1987
- Cyclone KaySouth Pacific · 1987
- Tropical Storm ZumanSouth Pacific · 1987
- Tropical Storm Blanch:BlancheSouth Pacific · 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.