The 1972 season

Cyclone Vicky (1972)

Cyclone Vicky reached Category 2 in the South Indian between February 23, 1972 and March 4, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 960 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Vicky, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1972 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
South Indian
Dates
February 23, 1972 to March 4, 1972
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
960 mb (28.35 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.2
Identifier
SH211972

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Feb 23, 18:0011.0S 122.0E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 24, 00:0011.1S 121.9E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 24, 06:0011.5S 121.0E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 24, 12:0012.2S 119.9E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 24, 18:0012.8S 118.7E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 25, 00:0013.3S 117.7E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 25, 06:0013.5S 116.5E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 25, 12:0013.2S 115.0E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 25, 18:0013.0S 113.7E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 26, 00:0013.0S 112.3E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 26, 06:0013.0S 111.1E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 26, 12:0013.1S 110.1E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 26, 18:0013.3S 109.2E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 27, 00:0013.8S 108.3E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 27, 06:0014.1S 108.0E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 27, 12:0014.2S 108.0E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 27, 18:0014.3S 108.0E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 28, 00:0014.4S 108.1E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 28, 06:0014.5S 108.1E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 28, 12:0014.7S 108.4E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 28, 18:0014.8S 108.9E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 29, 00:0014.9S 110.1E15 ktTropical storm
Feb 29, 06:0015.0S 111.5E15 ktTropical storm
Feb 29, 12:0015.2S 113.1E15 ktTropical storm
Feb 29, 18:0015.4S 114.6E10 ktTropical storm
Mar 1, 00:0015.5S 116.1E10 ktTropical storm
Mar 1, 06:0015.6S 117.2E10 ktTropical storm
Mar 1, 12:0015.7S 118.0E10 ktTropical storm
Mar 1, 18:0015.8S 118.7E15 ktTropical storm
Mar 2, 00:0015.9S 119.4E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 2, 06:0016.0S 120.1E30 ktTropical storm
Mar 2, 12:0016.0S 120.9E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 2, 18:0016.0S 121.6E40 ktTropical storm
Mar 3, 00:0016.0S 122.4E80 ktTropical storm
Mar 3, 06:0016.2S 123.2E85 ktTropical storm
Mar 3, 12:0016.6S 124.0E70 ktTropical storm
Mar 3, 18:0016.9S 124.7E55 ktTropical storm
Mar 4, 00:0016.9S 125.4E35 ktTropical storm

Other South Indian storms of 1972

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.