Cyclone Raja (1987)

Basin

South Pacific

Dates

December 21, 1986 to January 5, 1987

Peak strength

Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)

Lowest pressure

955 mb (28.20 inHg)

Landfall

No; closest approach 24 km (15 mi)

Accumulated cyclone energy

16.5

Fastest the center moved

14 kt (16 mph)

Identifier

SH041987

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.

• Tropical Storm OseaSouth Pacific · 1987Tropical Storm55 kt · 980 mb
• Tropical Storm PatsySouth Pacific · 1987Tropical Storm55 kt · 975 mb
• Cyclone SallySouth Pacific · 1987Cat 165 kt · 955 mb
• Cyclone TusiSouth Pacific · 1987Cat 3100 kt · 955 mb
• Tropical Depression IrmaSouth Pacific · 1987Tropical Depression30 kt · 978 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1987Tropical Storm40 kt
• Cyclone Uma:VeliSouth Pacific · 1987Cat 175 kt · 940 mb
• Cyclone JasonSouth Pacific · 1987Cat 175 kt · 970 mb
• Tropical Storm VeliSouth Pacific · 1987Tropical Storm40 kt · 990 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 1987Tropical Depression25 kt
• Cyclone WiniSouth Pacific · 1987Cat 165 kt · 965 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1987Tropical Storm40 kt · 985 mb
• Cyclone YaliSouth Pacific · 1987Cat 165 kt · 970 mb
• Cyclone KaySouth Pacific · 1987Cat 165 kt · 976 mb
• Tropical Storm ZumanSouth Pacific · 1987Tropical Storm55 kt · 975 mb
• Tropical Storm Blanch:BlancheSouth Pacific · 1987Tropical Storm45 kt · 990 mb

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.

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.

• Wikipedia article: Cyclone Raja