1986 Western Pacific typhoon season

Typhoon Peggy 1986

Typhoon Peggy crossed northeastern Luzon in July 1986 before turning toward southeastern China. Known as Gading in the Philippines, it caused heavy losses along a route that began far out in the Pacific.

PEAK INTENSITYCategory 5
Peggy 1986: PEGGY infrared satellite image, 1986-07-07T03:00:00Z
Digital Typhoon, National Institute of Informatics (doi:10.20783/DIAS.664). CC BY 4.0 Source
PEGGY: complete recorded track, Jun 28, 1986–Jul 13, 1986Recorded track from Jun 28, 1986 to Jul 13, 1986. Colors show the recorded wind category. The highlighted position follows the replay controls.AUSTRALIAASIAJAPANPHILIPPINESINDIAFIJITONGAVANUATUNEW CALEDONIAPacific OceanIndian OceanJun 28, 12:00 AM UTCJun 29, 12:00 AM UTCJun 30, 12:00 AM UTCJul 1, 12:00 AM UTCJul 2, 12:00 AM UTCJul 3, 12:00 AM UTCJul 4, 12:00 AM UTCJul 5, 12:00 AM UTCJul 6, 12:00 AM UTCJul 7, 12:00 AM UTCJul 8, 12:00 AM UTCJul 9, 12:00 AM UTCJul 10, 12:00 AM UTCJul 11, 12:00 AM UTCJul 12, 12:00 AM UTCJul 13, 12:00 AM UTCPeak: Category 5JUN 28JUL 13

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DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Wind speed 161 mphPressure 905 mb
09001009602001020mphmbJun 28Jul 3Jul 8Jul 13
Forward speed 16 mphCumulative ACE 15.29 10⁴ kt²
001517.53035mph10⁴ kt²Jun 28Jul 3Jul 8Jul 13
Maximum sustained wind161 mph

161 mph

Minimum recorded pressure900 hPa

Jul 6, 1986 during the tropical stage

Recorded track duration15.75 days

Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present

Approximate track distance4,920 mi

Along the recorded center positions

STORM HISTORY

A long approach from the Pacific

Peggy's earliest archived positions lie near the Marshall Islands in late June. The system developed farther west in early July and strengthened into a typhoon east of the Philippines. Peak one-minute winds reached 140 kt early on 7 July.

The storm slowly weakened while continuing west. It struck northeastern Luzon on 9 July as a much weaker typhoon than at its offshore peak, then entered the waters west of the island.

Turning toward southeastern China

A weakening in the subtropical ridge allowed Peggy to turn north. It reached southeastern China as a tropical storm on 11 July and weakened into a remnant low the next day. The archive continues through 13 July.

Peggy's passage caused at least 333 reported deaths and an estimated US$512 million in damage at 1986 values. Its Philippine and Chinese landfalls followed the storm's strongest phase over the Pacific.

Further reading

NOAA IBTrACS v04r01 historical track archive

Wikipedia, Typhoon Peggy (1986)

QUICK ANSWERS

Peggy in brief

What was Typhoon Peggy's highest wind speed?

161 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Jul 7, 1986, 12:00 AM UTC.

What category was Typhoon Peggy?

Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Jul 6, 1986, 09:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.

What was Typhoon Peggy's lowest pressure?

900 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Jul 6, 1986, 06:00 PM UTC.

When did Typhoon Peggy occur?

The archived track runs from Jun 28, 1986, 12:00 AM UTC to Jul 13, 1986, 06:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Jun 28, 1986, 12:00 AM UTC to Jul 12, 1986, 09:00 AM UTC.

Where did Typhoon Peggy form?

In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1986 season. Its first archived position is 11.3°N, 174.7°E on Jun 28, 1986, 12:00 AM UTC.

Did Typhoon Peggy make landfall?

The archive places its center over land at 2 recorded positions; the strongest is 104 mph on Jul 9, 1986, 12:00 AM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.

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