The 1981 season

Cyclone Johanne (1981)

Cyclone Johanne reached Category 1 in the South Indian between March 1, 1981 and March 11, 1981, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Johanne, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1981 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
March 1, 1981 to March 11, 1981
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
5.5
Identifier
SH221981

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
Mar 1, 12:0022.0S 47.1E10 ktTropical storm
Mar 1, 18:0021.7S 47.3E15 ktTropical storm
Mar 2, 00:0021.3S 47.5E15 ktTropical storm
Mar 2, 06:0020.9S 47.7E15 ktTropical storm
Mar 2, 12:0020.5S 47.9E15 ktTropical storm
Mar 2, 18:0020.2S 48.2E15 ktTropical storm
Mar 3, 00:0019.8S 48.5E20 ktTropical storm
Mar 3, 06:0019.4S 48.9E20 ktTropical storm
Mar 3, 12:0018.9S 49.5E20 ktTropical storm
Mar 3, 18:0018.5S 50.2E20 ktTropical storm
Mar 4, 00:0018.0S 50.9E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 4, 06:0017.6S 51.7E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 4, 12:0017.4S 52.4E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 4, 18:0017.4S 53.0E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 5, 00:0017.9S 53.5E30 ktTropical storm
Mar 5, 06:0018.6S 53.8E30 ktTropical storm
Mar 5, 12:0019.3S 54.2E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 5, 18:0020.0S 54.8E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 6, 00:0020.7S 55.7E40 ktTropical storm
Mar 6, 06:0021.4S 56.8E45 ktTropical storm
Mar 6, 12:0022.2S 58.0E55 ktTropical storm
Mar 6, 18:0023.4S 59.4E60 ktTropical storm
Mar 7, 00:0024.6S 60.9E65 ktTropical storm
Mar 7, 06:0025.5S 62.6E70 ktTropical storm
Mar 7, 12:0026.2S 64.4E75 ktTropical storm
Mar 7, 18:0026.8S 66.1E80 ktTropical storm
Mar 8, 00:0027.3S 67.5E75 ktTropical storm
Mar 8, 06:0027.6S 68.3E70 ktMixed
Mar 8, 12:0027.8S 68.7E60 ktMixed
Mar 8, 18:0028.0S 69.1E55 ktMixed
Mar 9, 00:0028.2S 69.5E45 ktMixed
Mar 9, 06:0028.5S 69.8E40 ktMixed
Mar 9, 12:0028.8S 70.1E30 ktMixed
Mar 9, 18:0029.3S 70.1E25 ktMixed
Mar 10, 00:0029.9S 69.9E25 ktMixed
Mar 10, 06:0030.0S 70.0EExtratropical
Mar 10, 12:0030.2S 71.2ENot reported
Mar 10, 18:0031.8S 72.2ENot reported
Mar 11, 00:0033.1S 73.0ENot reported

Other South Indian storms of 1981

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.