1985–86 South Pacific cyclone season

Seasonal summary

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During November and December no significant tropical cyclones developed in or moved into the basin in the region,

Systems

Severe Tropical Cyclone Ima

|10-min winds=90 |1-min winds=75 Severe Tropical Cyclone Ima existed from February 5 to February 16.

Ima affected French Polynesia's Austral, Society and Tubuai Islands, from February 9–14 and caused extensive damage to Rimatara.

Tropical Cyclone June

|10-min winds=55 |1-min winds=70 On February 5, the FMS reported that a tropical depression had developed early on February 10. About 24 hours later, the system intensified into a Category 1 cyclone on the Australian intensity scale. Around that same time, the NPMOC followed suit by upgrading the system into a tropical storm. By February 9, June had weakened into a tropical depression. June was no longer a tropical cyclone by the morning.

Tropical Cyclone Keli

|10-min winds=45 |1-min winds=45 Tropical Cyclone Keli existed from February 8 to February 14.

Tropical Cyclone Lusi

|10-min winds=40 |1-min winds=45

According to the Vanuatu Meteorological Service, there was no significant damage reported within Vanuatu.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred

|10-min winds=40 |1-min winds=45 Tropical Cyclone Alfred existed from March 7 to March 11.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Martin

|10-min winds=65 |1-min winds=75 Severe Tropical Cyclone Martin from April 10 to April 15.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Namu

(out of basin from May 19-21) |10-min winds=80 |1-min winds=65 Main article: Cyclone Namu

On May 15, TCWC Nadi started to monitor a tropical depression that had developed within the monsoon trough, in association with Typhoon Lola about 90 km to the north of the Solomon Island: Malaita. Over the next two days the system moved towards the southeast before it recurved, and started to move towards the southwest during May 17 as it started to show signs that it was developing further. After the system had acquired the characteristics of a tropical cyclone and become equivalent to a tropical storm, the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center started to issue warnings on the system and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 33P. Later that day, TCWC Nadi named the depression Namu, after it had become equivalent to a modern-day category-two tropical cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale with ten-minute sustained windspeeds of 155 km/h.

Cyclone Namu was responsible for the deaths of 103 people and caused US$100 million in economic losses in the Solomon Islands. It was considered the worst tropical cyclone to impact the area in five years. The storm was estimated to have caused a maximum wave height of 1.5 m. Much of the damage caused by Namu was due to phenomenal flooding, and was widespread across the island chain. Attaining a clean water supply was an issue on Guadalcanal, and 22% of homes on the island were either damaged or destroyed.

As a result of the havoc caused by the cyclone, approximately 90,000 people, equal to a third of the country's population, were reported as homeless. The United Kingdom, Papua New Guinea, the United States, and Japan also sent supplies and goods to the Solomon Islands.

Season effects

This table lists all the storms that developed in the South Pacific basin during the 1985–86 season. It includes their intensity on the Australian Tropical cyclone intensity scale, duration, name, areas affected, deaths, and damages. For most storms the data is taken from TCWC Nadi's and or TCWC Wellington's archives, however data for 03P has been taken from the JTWC/NPMOC archives as opposed to TCWC Nadi's or TCWC Wellington's, and thus the winds are over 1-minute as opposed to 10-minutes.

|- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#|90 kn || bgcolor=#| || Cook Islands || || || |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#|55 kn || bgcolor=#| || || || || |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#|45 kn || bgcolor=#| || || None || None || |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || Vanuatu || None || None || |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || Vanuatu || None || None || |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || || None || || |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || Solomon Islands || || || |-

References

References

1. Joint Typhoon Warning Center. "Tropical Cyclone 14P Best Track". United States Navy, United States Air Force.
2. Radford, Deirdre A. (1992). "Natural Disasters in the Solomon Islands". The Australian International Development Assistance Bureau.
3. Darwin Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre. (1986). "May 1986". Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
4. Joint Typhoon Warning Center. (1993). "4. Summary of South Pacific and South Indian Tropical Cyclones". United States Navy, United States Airforce.
5. (2010). "Tropical Cyclone Namu". Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
6. Berdach, James T.. (December 2007). "Solomon Islands Country Environmental Analysis". [[Asian Development Bank]].
7. Trustrum, N.A.. "Flood and landslide hazard mapping, Solomon Islands". [[International Association of Hydrological Sciences]].
8. Roy, Peter. (June 1986). "Geological Impacts of Cyclone Namu on the Coastal Plain of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands - June 1986". Secretariat of the Pacific Community's Applied Geoscience and Technology Division.
9. (22 May 1986). "Slide ravages Guadalcanal village". [[The Daily Courier (Arizona).
10. Radford, D.A.. (1992). "Natural Disasters in the Solomon Islands". The Australian International Development Assistance Bureau.