The 1985 season

Cyclone Helisaonina (1985)

Cyclone Helisaonina reached Category 3 in the South Indian between April 7, 1985 and April 19, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 941 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Helisaonina, 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
April 7, 1985 to April 19, 1985
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
941 mb (27.79 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 63 km (39 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
14.3
Identifier
SH331985

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
Apr 7, 06:009.2S 76.1ETropical storm
Apr 7, 12:009.3S 76.1ETropical storm
Apr 7, 18:009.5S 76.0ETropical storm
Apr 8, 00:009.7S 75.9ETropical storm
Apr 8, 06:0010.0S 75.8ETropical storm
Apr 8, 12:0010.2S 75.7ETropical storm
Apr 8, 18:0010.4S 75.7ETropical storm
Apr 9, 00:0010.6S 75.6ETropical storm
Apr 9, 06:0010.8S 75.6ETropical storm
Apr 9, 12:0011.0S 75.6ETropical storm
Apr 9, 18:0011.2S 75.5ETropical storm
Apr 10, 00:0011.3S 75.4ETropical storm
Apr 10, 06:0011.8S 74.6E36 ktTropical storm
Apr 10, 12:0011.4S 72.8E25 ktXX
Apr 10, 18:0011.5S 72.0E30 ktXX
Apr 11, 00:0011.8S 71.2E35 kt984 mbXX
Apr 11, 06:0012.2S 70.5E40 kt984 mbXX
Apr 11, 12:0012.7S 69.9E45 kt976 mbXX
Apr 11, 18:0013.2S 69.3E50 kt966 mbXX
Apr 12, 00:0013.8S 68.8E60 kt966 mbXX
Apr 12, 06:0014.4S 68.2E65 kt954 mbXX
Apr 12, 12:0015.0S 67.4E75 kt954 mbXX
Apr 12, 18:0015.8S 66.4E85 kt954 mbXX
Apr 13, 00:0016.5S 65.3E90 kt954 mbXX
Apr 13, 06:0017.0S 64.5E95 kt954 mbXX
Apr 13, 12:0017.4S 63.9E100 kt954 mbXX
Apr 13, 18:0017.7S 63.4E105 kt941 mbXX
Apr 14, 00:0018.1S 63.2E110 kt941 mbXX
Apr 14, 06:0018.4S 63.4E105 kt966 mbXX
Apr 14, 12:0018.8S 63.7E100 kt976 mbXX
Apr 14, 18:0018.7S 64.1E95 kt984 mbXX
Apr 15, 00:0018.3S 64.4E90 kt991 mbXX
Apr 15, 06:0017.8S 64.3E85 kt991 mbXX
Apr 15, 12:0017.4S 63.4E75 kt997 mbXX
Apr 15, 18:0017.3S 62.1E65 kt1000 mbXX
Apr 16, 00:0017.2S 60.8E55 kt1003 mbXX
Apr 16, 06:0016.9S 59.6E45 kt1003 mbXX
Apr 16, 12:0016.6S 58.5E40 kt1003 mbXX
Apr 16, 18:0016.3S 57.5E35 kt1003 mbXX
Apr 17, 00:0016.0S 56.6E30 kt1003 mbXX
Apr 17, 06:0015.6S 55.7E30 ktXX
Apr 17, 12:0015.2S 54.8E30 ktXX
Apr 17, 18:0014.9S 53.8E30 ktXX
Apr 18, 00:0014.6S 52.8E30 ktXX
Apr 18, 06:0014.7S 51.6E30 ktXX
Apr 18, 12:0015.3S 50.4E25 ktXX
Apr 18, 18:0016.1S 50.1E25 ktXX
Apr 19, 00:0017.1S 50.8E20 ktXX
Apr 19, 06:0017.2S 53.2EXX

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.