The 1987 season

Cyclone Sally (1987)

Cyclone Sally reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between December 26, 1986 and January 5, 1987, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Sally, 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.

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The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
December 26, 1986 to January 5, 1987
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 729 km (453 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
9.1
Identifier
SH051987

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
Dec 26, 06:0013.0S 165.5W30 kt997 mbNot reported
Dec 26, 12:0013.0S 165.0W30 kt997 mbNot reported
Dec 26, 18:0013.1S 164.5W30 kt997 mbNot reported
Dec 27, 00:0013.3S 164.2W35 kt995 mbNot reported
Dec 27, 06:0013.5S 163.2W25 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 27, 12:0013.9S 163.2W25 kt987 mbTropical storm
Dec 27, 18:0014.3S 163.2W25 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 00:0014.7S 163.2W30 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 06:0015.0S 163.2W35 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 12:0015.3S 163.2W35 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 18:0015.6S 163.2W40 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 00:0015.9S 163.2W45 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 06:0016.2S 163.2W45 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 12:0016.6S 163.1W50 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 18:0016.8S 162.9W50 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 30, 00:0017.0S 162.6W55 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 30, 06:0017.1S 162.2W55 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 30, 12:0017.1S 161.8W60 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 30, 18:0017.1S 161.4W60 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 31, 00:0017.0S 161.0W65 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 31, 06:0016.4S 160.8W65 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 31, 12:0016.4S 161.2W60 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 31, 18:0016.7S 161.5W60 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 1, 00:0017.2S 161.5W60 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 1, 06:0017.5S 161.5W60 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 1, 12:0017.8S 161.5W55 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 1, 18:0018.3S 161.4W55 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 00:0018.8S 161.2W55 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 06:0019.3S 160.9W55 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 12:0019.8S 160.3W50 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 18:0020.3S 159.6W50 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 00:0020.7S 158.7W50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 06:0021.3S 157.6W50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 12:0021.8S 156.4W50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 18:0022.5S 155.3W45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 00:0023.2S 154.3W45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 06:0024.0S 153.2W45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 12:0024.8S 152.2W40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 18:0025.8S 151.2W40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 00:0026.8S 150.2W40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 06:0028.3S 145.3W45 kt987 mbNot reported
Jan 5, 12:0031.0S 143.0W40 kt990 mbNot reported
Jan 5, 18:0034.0S 141.0W35 kt995 mbNot reported

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.