Hurricane History Map

1980 South Pacific and Australian region season

11 storms formed in the South Pacific and Australian region basin in 1980, from 9 December 1979 to 8 April 1980.

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Years1980
Ocean basin

Choosing a minimum category hides storms with no wind speed in the record. To see which storms have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • Tropical depression Winds below 34 knots (39 mph)
  • Tropical storm 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph)
  • Category 1 64 to 82 knots (74 to 95 mph)
  • Category 2 83 to 95 knots (96 to 110 mph)
  • Category 3 96 to 112 knots (111 to 129 mph), major
  • Category 4 113 to 136 knots (130 to 156 mph), major
  • Category 5 137 knots (157 mph) or more, major
  • Unknown intensity No wind speed in the record
  • Post-tropical Storm has become post-tropical (dashed line)

How to read the lines. Each line is the track of one storm, drawn through its six-hourly positions and coloured by its intensity at each point (the Saffir-Simpson scale), so a line changes colour as the storm strengthens or weakens. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see which storms have passed nearby. Weaker storms appear as you zoom in. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same kind of storm with different names in different oceans.

The 1980 season in numbers

The record holds 11 storms for the 1980 South Pacific and Australian region season, of which 10 had names.11 reached tropical storm strength (34 knots or more), 3 reached cyclone strength (category 1 or more) and 1 were major (category 3 or more).

  • 11storms
  • 11tropical storm strength or more
  • 3cyclone strength or more
  • 1major (category 3 to 5)
  • 45accumulated cyclone energy

Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the squared wind speed of every position of 34 knots or more, divided by 10,000. It is approximate here because the winds are 1-minute equivalents, and it is mostly useful for comparing seasons of one basin.

Strongest storms of 1980

  • Simon (1980)21 February 1980 to 3 March 1980, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 950 hPa
  • Sina (1980)9 March 1980 to 16 March 1980, peak Category 1 (70 kt), 970 hPa
  • Peni (1980)1 January 1980 to 6 January 1980, peak Category 1 (65 kt), 970 hPa
  • Ofa (1980)9 December 1979 to 15 December 1979, peak Tropical storm (63 kt), 980 hPa
  • Paul (1980)2 January 1980 to 12 January 1980, peak Tropical storm (60 kt), 985 hPa

All 11 storms of 1980

StormPeak
Ofa Tropical storm
Peni Category 1
Paul Tropical storm
Rae Tropical storm
Ruth Tropical storm
Simon Category 3
Sina Category 1
Tia Tropical storm
Val Tropical storm
Unnamed storm Tropical storm
Wally Tropical storm

← 1979 · 1981 → · All seasons

Other basins in 1980

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