The 1986 season

Cyclone Erinesta (1986)

Cyclone Erinesta reached Category 4 in the South Indian between January 29, 1986 and February 11, 1986, with a lowest pressure of 927 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Erinesta, 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 29, 1986 to February 11, 1986
Peak strength
Category 4, 115 kt (132 mph)
Lowest pressure
927 mb (27.37 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 177 km (110 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
29.7
Identifier
SH131986

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 29, 06:0013.5S 69.4ETropical storm
Jan 29, 12:0012.9S 68.8E20 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Jan 29, 18:0012.4S 68.0E20 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Jan 30, 00:0011.9S 66.8E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 30, 06:0012.0S 65.8E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 30, 12:0012.1S 65.1E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 30, 18:0012.1S 64.7E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 00:0012.0S 64.2E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 06:0011.9S 63.7E30 kt991 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 12:0011.8S 63.2E35 kt991 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 18:0011.7S 62.7E35 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 00:0011.7S 62.2E40 kt984 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 06:0011.8S 61.7E50 kt984 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 12:0012.0S 61.2E60 kt976 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 18:0012.2S 60.8E65 kt966 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 00:0012.4S 60.3E75 kt954 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 06:0012.7S 59.7E85 kt954 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 12:0013.1S 59.1E95 kt954 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 18:0013.5S 58.6E100 kt954 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 00:0013.9S 58.0E105 kt954 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 06:0014.3S 57.3E110 kt941 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 12:0014.6S 56.6E110 kt941 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 18:0014.8S 56.1E110 kt941 mbTropical storm
Feb 4, 00:0015.1S 55.5E110 kt941 mbTropical storm
Feb 4, 06:0015.4S 54.9E110 kt927 mbTropical storm
Feb 4, 12:0015.7S 54.4E115 kt927 mbTropical storm
Feb 4, 18:0016.0S 54.1E115 kt927 mbTropical storm
Feb 5, 00:0016.3S 53.9E115 kt941 mbTropical storm
Feb 5, 06:0016.6S 53.7E110 kt954 mbTropical storm
Feb 5, 12:0017.0S 53.4E105 kt954 mbTropical storm
Feb 5, 18:0017.4S 53.3E100 kt954 mbTropical storm
Feb 6, 00:0017.8S 53.3E95 kt966 mbTropical storm
Feb 6, 06:0018.2S 53.3E90 kt966 mbTropical storm
Feb 6, 12:0018.6S 53.3E90 kt966 mbTropical storm
Feb 6, 18:0019.0S 53.3E90 kt966 mbTropical storm
Feb 7, 00:0019.4S 53.4E85 kt966 mbTropical storm
Feb 7, 06:0019.8S 53.4E85 kt966 mbTropical storm
Feb 7, 12:0020.3S 53.5E80 kt966 mbTropical storm
Feb 7, 18:0020.8S 53.5E80 kt976 mbTropical storm
Feb 8, 00:0021.3S 53.6E75 kt976 mbTropical storm
Feb 8, 06:0022.1S 53.6E75 kt966 mbTropical storm
Feb 8, 12:0023.1S 53.6E70 kt966 mbTropical storm
Feb 8, 18:0024.2S 53.4E70 kt976 mbMixed
Feb 9, 00:0025.5S 53.3E65 kt976 mbMixed
Feb 9, 06:0027.1S 53.5E60 kt984 mbMixed
Feb 9, 12:0028.7S 53.9E55 ktMixed
Feb 9, 18:0030.1S 54.4E55 ktMixed
Feb 10, 00:0031.4S 54.9E50 ktMixed
Feb 10, 06:0032.5S 55.3E45 ktMixed
Feb 10, 12:0033.6S 55.8E40 ktMixed
Feb 10, 18:0034.6S 56.4E35 ktMixed
Feb 11, 00:0035.6S 57.0E35 ktMixed
Feb 11, 06:0035.0S 59.0E36 ktMixed
Feb 11, 12:0036.2S 61.0E36 ktDisturbance

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.