The 1986 season

Cyclone Jefotra (1986)

Cyclone Jefotra reached Category 3 in the South Indian between March 25, 1986 and April 5, 1986, with a lowest pressure of 954 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Jefotra, 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
March 25, 1986 to April 5, 1986
Peak strength
Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)
Lowest pressure
954 mb (28.17 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 397 km (247 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
15.4
Identifier
SH271986

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 25, 12:0013.0S 91.1E30 ktTropical storm
Mar 25, 18:0013.2S 89.4E30 ktTropical storm
Mar 26, 00:0013.3S 87.9E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 26, 06:0013.3S 86.6E40 ktTropical storm
Mar 26, 12:0013.3S 85.3E45 ktTropical storm
Mar 26, 18:0013.4S 83.8E45 ktTropical storm
Mar 27, 00:0013.5S 82.3E50 ktTropical storm
Mar 27, 06:0013.7S 80.8E50 ktTropical storm
Mar 27, 12:0013.9S 79.2E55 kt991 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 18:0014.1S 77.7E55 kt991 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 00:0014.4S 76.1E60 kt984 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 06:0014.9S 74.7E65 kt984 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 12:0015.6S 73.6E75 kt976 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 18:0016.3S 72.7E80 kt976 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 00:0017.0S 71.9E90 kt966 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 06:0017.5S 70.9E95 kt966 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 12:0017.9S 70.0E105 kt954 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 18:0018.4S 69.2E105 kt954 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 00:0018.9S 68.4E100 kt954 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 06:0019.4S 67.6E95 kt954 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 12:0019.9S 66.7E90 kt954 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 18:0020.4S 65.9E85 kt954 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 00:0021.0S 65.0E80 kt954 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 06:0021.6S 64.2E75 kt966 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 12:0022.3S 63.3E70 kt976 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 18:0022.8S 62.4E65 kt976 mbTropical storm
Apr 1, 00:0023.3S 61.4E55 kt976 mbTropical storm
Apr 1, 06:0023.7S 60.1E50 kt984 mbMixed
Apr 1, 12:0024.1S 58.8E45 kt984 mbMixed
Apr 1, 18:0024.5S 58.0E40 kt991 mbMixed
Apr 2, 00:0025.0S 57.5E40 kt991 mbMixed
Apr 2, 06:0025.2S 57.1E28 kt997 mbMixed
Apr 2, 12:0026.5S 57.3E28 kt997 mbMixed
Apr 2, 18:0027.8S 58.3E28 kt997 mbMixed
Apr 3, 00:0028.9S 59.5E28 kt997 mbMixed
Apr 3, 06:0029.8S 61.1E28 kt997 mbMixed
Apr 3, 12:0030.5S 63.0E36 ktMixed
Apr 3, 18:0031.1S 65.3E36 ktMixed
Apr 4, 00:0031.3S 67.8E36 ktMixed
Apr 4, 06:0031.7S 70.4E36 ktMixed
Apr 4, 12:0032.2S 72.8E36 ktMixed
Apr 4, 18:0033.0S 75.0E36 ktMixed
Apr 5, 00:0033.9S 77.4E36 ktMixed
Apr 5, 06:0035.0S 80.0E36 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.