Cyclone Frank (1985)

Cyclone Frank reached Category 1 in the South Indian between December 19, 1984 and December 28, 1984, with a lowest pressure of 950 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Frank, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1985 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: December 19, 1984 to December 28, 1984
Peak strength: Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure: 950 mb (28.05 inHg)
Landfall: Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy: 6.2
Identifier: SH051985

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)	Position	Wind	Pressure	Status
Dec 19, 18:00	16.4S 129.0E	25 kt	1001 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 20, 00:00	16.5S 128.2E	25 kt	1001 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 20, 06:00	16.5S 127.5E	25 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 20, 12:00	16.6S 126.9E	25 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 20, 18:00	16.6S 126.2E	25 kt	999 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 21, 00:00	16.7S 125.5E	25 kt	999 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 21, 06:00	16.7S 124.8E	25 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 21, 12:00	16.8S 124.2E	25 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 21, 18:00	16.8S 123.8E	30 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 22, 00:00	17.0S 123.2E	30 kt	997 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 22, 06:00	17.3S 122.7E	30 kt	996 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 22, 12:00	17.4S 122.9E	20 kt	990 mb	XX
Dec 22, 18:00	17.4S 122.3E	25 kt	984 mb	XX
Dec 23, 00:00	17.5S 121.7E	30 kt	980 mb	XX
Dec 23, 06:00	17.5S 121.2E	35 kt	978 mb	XX
Dec 23, 12:00	17.6S 120.7E	40 kt	968 mb	XX
Dec 23, 18:00	17.6S 120.2E	45 kt	966 mb	XX
Dec 24, 00:00	17.5S 119.6E	50 kt	958 mb	XX
Dec 24, 06:00	17.5S 119.1E	55 kt	954 mb	XX
Dec 24, 12:00	17.5S 118.5E	60 kt	952 mb	XX
Dec 24, 18:00	17.4S 118.1E	65 kt	952 mb	XX
Dec 25, 00:00	17.4S 117.8E	70 kt	954 mb	XX
Dec 25, 06:00	17.5S 117.6E	75 kt	956 mb	XX
Dec 25, 12:00	17.7S 117.5E	75 kt	958 mb	XX
Dec 25, 18:00	17.9S 117.5E	75 kt	960 mb	XX
Dec 26, 00:00	18.2S 117.5E	75 kt	962 mb	XX
Dec 26, 06:00	18.7S 117.6E	70 kt	966 mb	XX
Dec 26, 12:00	19.2S 117.8E	65 kt	976 mb	XX
Dec 26, 18:00	19.8S 118.1E	60 kt	984 mb	XX
Dec 27, 00:00	20.3S 118.5E	50 kt	988 mb	XX
Dec 27, 06:00	20.8S 119.0E	40 kt	993 mb	XX
Dec 27, 12:00	21.3S 119.5E	30 kt	997 mb	XX
Dec 27, 18:00	21.5S 120.9E	30 kt	998 mb	XX
Dec 28, 00:00	21.6S 122.2E	25 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm

Other South Indian storms of 1985

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.