The 1986 hurricane season

Every storm track on one map · Atlantic & Pacific · 27 systems

Atlantic storms
6
4 hurricanes · 0 major
Atlantic ACE
36
1991–2020 avg ≈ 123
Strongest
104 mph
Earl
Landfalling
2
Atlantic storms
Pacific storms
17
9 hurricanes · 3 major
Pacific strongest
144 mph
Roslyn

TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · hover a track to highlight it, click to open the storm’s own page with an animated replay.

01 · Summary

How the 1986 season went

The 1986 Atlantic season produced 6 tropical storms, 4 hurricanes and 0 major hurricanes (Cat 3+), with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) of 36. The strongest was Hurricane Earl at 104 mph / 979 mb. 2 storms made landfall.

The 1986 Eastern Pacific season (Eastern and Central Pacific) produced 17 tropical storms, 9 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes (Cat 3+), with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) of 108. The strongest was Hurricane Roslyn at 144 mph. 0 storms made landfall.

02 · Timeline

Storm by storm, month by month

MAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVHurricane Agatha — May 22–29, 1986Agatha Cat 1Tropical Storm Andrew — June 5–8, 1986Andrew TSTropical Storm Blas — June 17–19, 1986Blas TSHurricane Bonnie — June 23–28, 1986Bonnie Cat 1Hurricane Celia — June 24–30, 1986Celia Cat 1Tropical Storm Darby — July 3–7, 1986Darby TSHurricane Estelle — July 16–26, 1986Estelle Cat 4Unnamed storm #3 — July 23–28, 1986Unnamed storm #3 TDHurricane Frank — July 24 – August 3, 1986Frank Cat 1Tropical Storm Georgette — August 3–4, 1986Georgette TSUnnamed storm #4 — August 4–5, 1986Unnamed storm #4 TDHurricane Charley — August 13–30, 1986Charley Cat 1Tropical Storm Howard — August 16–18, 1986Howard TSTropical Storm Isis — August 19–24, 1986Isis TSHurricane Javier — August 20–31, 1986Javier Cat 4Tropical Storm Kay — August 28 – September 3, 1986Kay TSUnnamed storm #6 — August 30 – September 4, 1986Unnamed storm #6 TDUnnamed storm #7 — September 1–4, 1986Unnamed storm #7 TDTropical Storm Danielle — September 7–10, 1986Danielle TSHurricane Earl — September 10–20, 1986Earl Cat 2Tropical Storm Lester — September 13–17, 1986Lester TSTropical Storm Madeline — September 15–22, 1986Madeline TSHurricane Newton — September 18–24, 1986Newton Cat 1Hurricane Orlene — September 21–25, 1986Orlene Cat 1Hurricane Paine — September 28 – October 2, 1986Paine Cat 2Hurricane Roslyn — October 15–22, 1986Roslyn Cat 4Hurricane Frances — November 18–21, 1986Frances Cat 1

Each bar is one storm’s life, colored by its strength at that moment (faded = post-tropical). Click a bar to open the storm.

03 · Atlantic

Atlantic storms of 1986

StormDatesPeakPressureLandfallACE
Tropical Storm AndrewJun 5 – Jun 8TS 52 mph999 mb—2.2
Hurricane BonnieJun 23 – Jun 28Cat 1 86 mph990 mbTexas2.9
Unnamed storm #3Jul 23 – Jul 28TD 35 mph——0.0
Unnamed storm #4Aug 4 – Aug 5TD 35 mph——0.0
Hurricane Charley · 15 deathsAug 13 – Aug 30Cat 1 81 mph980 mbNorth Carolina5.6
Unnamed storm #6Aug 30 – Sep 4TD 35 mph——0.0
Unnamed storm #7Sep 1 – Sep 4TD 35 mph——0.0
Tropical Storm DanielleSep 7 – Sep 10TS 58 mph1000 mb—1.6
Hurricane EarlSep 10 – Sep 20Cat 2 104 mph979 mb—19.7
Hurricane FrancesNov 18 – Nov 21Cat 1 86 mph1000 mb—3.8

04 · Pacific

Eastern & Central Pacific storms of 1986

StormDatesPeakPressureLandfallACE
Hurricane AgathaMay 22 – May 29Cat 1 75 mph——3.5
Tropical Storm BlasJun 17 – Jun 19TS 40 mph——0.2
Hurricane CeliaJun 24 – Jun 30Cat 1 86 mph——5.1
Tropical Storm DarbyJul 3 – Jul 7TS 40 mph——0.4
Hurricane EstelleJul 16 – Jul 26Cat 4 132 mph——21.3
Hurricane FrankJul 24 – Aug 3Cat 1 86 mph——6.6
Tropical Storm GeorgetteAug 3 – Aug 4TS 40 mph——0.1
Tropical Storm HowardAug 16 – Aug 18TS 40 mph——0.7
Tropical Storm IsisAug 19 – Aug 24TS 52 mph——2.1
Hurricane JavierAug 20 – Aug 31Cat 4 132 mph——25.7
Tropical Storm KayAug 28 – Sep 3TS 46 mph——1.2
Tropical Storm LesterSep 13 – Sep 17TS 52 mph——1.6
Tropical Storm MadelineSep 15 – Sep 22TS 69 mph——4.2
Hurricane NewtonSep 18 – Sep 24Cat 1 86 mph——6.0
Hurricane OrleneSep 21 – Sep 25Cat 1 81 mph——4.4
Hurricane PaineSep 28 – Oct 2Cat 2 98 mph——4.7
Hurricane RoslynOct 15 – Oct 22Cat 4 144 mph——19.7
← Previous season1985Next season →1987

This site was built by Digital Dynamics Kft.

We build live, data-driven sites like this one

This archive is our own work, built from openly available data — the NOAA best-track records, the replay engine, the wind-field rendering and the map tiles served from our own servers in the European Union. If your business generates data — measurements, machines, orders, customers — we are happy to turn it into a clear, interactive interface.

But this is not all we build:

  • online shops and websites, with a design of your own
  • SaaS products and ERP systems
  • mobile apps for Android and iPhone
  • data collection, automation and map-based visualization

Or anything else that can be programmed — just get in touch.

See our work → or write: info@digitaldynamics.hu
digitaldynamics.hu Preview of the digitaldynamics.hu website