1992 Eastern Pacific hurricane season
Hurricane Gay 1992
Gay crossed the International Date Line and strengthened into an intense typhoon in November 1992. It damaged the Marshall Islands before weakening sharply toward Guam, where earlier storms had already destroyed many vulnerable buildings.
Drag to pan. Pinch or Ctrl/⌘ + scroll to zoom. Keyboard: plus or minus to zoom, arrow keys to pan, and 0 to show the full track.
184 mph
Nov 21, 1992 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Through the Marshall Islands to an intense peak
Gay developed along the monsoon trough near the Date Line and moved west through the Marshall Islands. About 5,000 people were left homeless there, crops suffered heavily, and Majuro lost power and water service. A sailor traveling around the world died during the storm.
The archive records peak one-minute winds of 160 kt on 21 November. Soon afterward, outflow from nearby Typhoon Hunt increased wind shear over Gay, disrupting its eyewall and causing rapid weakening over open water.
A weakened passage across Guam
Gay reached Guam on 23 November as a much weaker typhoon. Additional structural damage was limited partly because Typhoon Omar had already destroyed many weaker buildings earlier that year. Salt spray carried by strong winds nevertheless scorched vegetation and stripped leaves.
Gay briefly regained strength after leaving Guam, then slowed and turned north. It became extratropical south of Japan near the end of November, with its later circulation accelerating northeast across the Pacific.
IMPACT
Reported impact
| Areas affected | Japan |
|---|
Facts from Wikidata.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Gay in brief
What was Hurricane Gay's highest wind speed?
184 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Nov 21, 1992, 12:00 AM UTC.
What category was Hurricane Gay?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Nov 19, 1992, 03:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Hurricane Gay's lowest pressure?
900 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Nov 21, 1992, 12:00 AM UTC.
When did Hurricane Gay occur?
The archived track runs from Nov 13, 1992, 06:00 AM UTC to Dec 4, 1992, 12:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Nov 14, 1992, 06:00 PM UTC to Nov 29, 1992, 09:00 PM UTC.
Where did Hurricane Gay form?
In the Eastern Pacific basin, in the 1992 season. Its first archived position is 6.1°N, 177.8°W on Nov 13, 1992, 06:00 AM UTC.
Did Hurricane Gay make landfall?
No archived position places Hurricane Gay's center over land, but positions are six-hourly and a brief landfall can fall between them.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology