The 1986 season

Cyclone Delifina (1986)

Cyclone Delifina reached Category 3 in the South Indian between January 7, 1986 and January 19, 1986, with a lowest pressure of 976 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Delifina, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1986 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
January 7, 1986 to January 19, 1986
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
976 mb (28.82 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1470 km (913 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
22.6
Identifier
SH051986

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
Jan 7, 00:007.2S 79.5E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 7, 06:007.3S 80.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 7, 12:007.5S 80.4E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 7, 18:007.8S 80.7E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 8, 00:008.1S 81.0E35 ktTropical storm
Jan 8, 06:008.5S 81.3E40 ktTropical storm
Jan 8, 12:008.9S 81.5E45 ktTropical storm
Jan 8, 18:009.3S 81.7E50 ktTropical storm
Jan 9, 00:009.7S 81.7E55 ktTropical storm
Jan 9, 06:0010.1S 81.7E60 ktTropical storm
Jan 9, 12:0010.4S 81.5E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 9, 18:0010.6S 81.2E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 10, 00:0010.8S 80.9E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 10, 06:0011.0S 80.8E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 10, 12:0011.3S 80.7E70 ktTropical storm
Jan 10, 18:0011.5S 80.5E70 ktTropical storm
Jan 11, 00:0011.8S 80.3E75 kt984 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 06:0012.1S 80.1E75 kt984 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 12:0012.5S 80.1E80 kt976 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 18:0013.1S 80.3E80 kt976 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 00:0013.7S 80.5E85 kt976 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 06:0014.2S 80.7E85 kt976 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 12:0014.8S 80.8E90 ktTropical storm
Jan 12, 18:0015.5S 80.9E95 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 00:0016.2S 81.0E100 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 06:0016.9S 81.1E105 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 12:0017.7S 81.3E110 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 18:0018.5S 81.4E110 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 00:0019.4S 81.3E105 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 06:0020.3S 81.0E105 kt976 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 12:0021.2S 80.6E100 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 18:0022.1S 80.4E95 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 00:0023.1S 80.2E90 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 06:0024.0S 80.2E85 ktMixed
Jan 15, 12:0024.9S 80.4E75 ktMixed
Jan 15, 18:0025.7S 80.9E70 ktMixed
Jan 16, 00:0026.4S 81.6E60 ktMixed
Jan 16, 06:0027.0S 82.4E55 ktMixed
Jan 16, 12:0027.5S 83.3E45 ktMixed
Jan 16, 18:0028.9S 83.9EMixed
Jan 17, 00:0029.6S 84.2EMixed
Jan 17, 06:0030.1S 83.9EMixed
Jan 17, 12:0030.3S 81.9EMixed
Jan 17, 18:0029.9S 79.6E36 ktMixed
Jan 18, 00:0028.7S 77.2E36 ktMixed
Jan 18, 06:0027.0S 76.1E36 ktMixed
Jan 18, 12:0026.3S 76.7E36 ktMixed
Jan 18, 18:0026.2S 77.9E36 ktMixed
Jan 19, 00:0026.6S 79.0E36 ktMixed
Jan 19, 06:0027.1S 80.1E36 ktMixed

Other South Indian storms of 1986

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.