The 1985–86 South Pacific cyclone season was an average tropical cyclone season, in terms of tropical cyclone formation, with ten tropical cyclones occurring within the basin between 160°E and 120°W. The season ran from February 5, 1985, to May 22, 1986, with tropical cyclones officially monitored by the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS), Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) and New Zealand's MetService. The United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and other national meteorological services including Météo-France and NOAA also monitored the basin during the season. During the season there was nine tropical cyclones occurring within the basin, including three that moved into the basin from the Australian region.
Seasonal summary
During November and December no significant tropical cyclones developed in or moved into the basin in the region,
Systems
Severe Tropical Cyclone Ima
Category 4 severe tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
On February 5, TCWC Nadi (a.k.a. Fiji Meteorological Service) 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.[1] Around that same time, the Naval Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Center followed suit by upgrading the system into a tropical storm.[2] Gradually intensifying, Nadi estimated that June had peaked in intensity with winds of 65 mph (105 km/h) late on February 7.[1] Meanwhile, the JTWC reported that Tropical Cyclone June had also peaked in intensity.[2] By February 9, June had weakened into a tropical depression. June was no longer a tropical cyclone by the morning.[1]
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 (55 mi) to the north of the Solomon Island: Malaita.[4][5] 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.[4] 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.[6]
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 (95 mph).[4][1][7]
Cyclone Namu was responsible for the deaths of 103 people and caused US$100 million in economic losses in the Solomon Islands.[8] It was considered the worst tropical cyclone to impact the area in five years.[9] The storm was estimated to have caused a maximum wave height of 1.5 m (4.9 ft).[10] Much of the damage caused by Namu was due to phenomenal flooding, and was widespread across the island chain.[9] At Honiara International Airport, 340 mm (13 in) of rain was measured over a three-day period.[10] Increased river flow caused by the depositing of saturated material in rivers was the cause for much of the flood damage that occurred.[10] Of all the islands, Malaita was the worst affected by the cyclone.[11] On the island of Guadalcanal, a single mudslide was responsible for killing 38 villagers.[12] Attaining a clean water supply was an issue on Guadalcanal, and 22% of homes on the island were either damaged or destroyed.[11]
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.[9] The government of the Solomon Islands declared a national state of emergency for the entirety of the island chain.[13] The United Kingdom, Papua New Guinea, the United States, and Japan also sent supplies and goods to the Solomon Islands.[9]
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.
^ abJoint Typhoon Warning Center; Naval Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Center. "Tropical Cyclone 14P Best Track". United States Navy, United States Air Force. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
^ abcRadford, Deirdre A; Blong, Russell J (1992). Natural Disasters in the Solomon Islands(PDF). Vol. 1 and 2 (2 ed.). The Australian International Development Assistance Bureau. pp. 114–122. Archived(PDF) from the original on April 22, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
^Darwin Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (1986). "May 1986"(PDF). Darwin Tropical Diagnostic Statement. 5 (5). Australian Bureau of Meteorology: 3. ISSN1321-4233. Archived(PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
^Joint Typhoon Warning Center; Naval Western Oceanography Center (1993). 4. Summary of South Pacific and South Indian Tropical Cyclones(PDF) (Annual Tropical Cyclone Report: 1986). United States Navy, United States Airforce. pp. 183–190. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
^Tropical Cyclone Namu (Individual Tropical Cyclone Reports). Australian Bureau of Meteorology. 2010. Archived from the original on March 19, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
^ abRadford, D.A. (1992). "Natural Disasters in the Solomon Islands"(PDF). Sydney, Australia: The Australian International Development Assistance Bureau. pp. 114–122. Archived from the original(PDF) on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
