The 1986 season

Cyclone Nicholas (1986)

Cyclone Nicholas reached Category 1 in the South Indian between November 25, 1985 and December 7, 1985, with a lowest pressure of 945 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Nicholas, 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
November 25, 1985 to December 7, 1985
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
945 mb (27.91 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 134 km (83 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.9
Identifier
SH021986

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
Nov 25, 06:008.6S 104.0E25 ktNot reported
Nov 25, 12:008.9S 103.6E25 ktNot reported
Nov 25, 18:008.9S 103.1E30 ktNot reported
Nov 26, 00:008.6S 102.7E35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 06:008.2S 102.2E35 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 12:008.0S 101.9E35 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 18:007.9S 101.6E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 00:007.9S 101.3E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 06:008.0S 101.1E35 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 12:008.1S 100.9E35 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 18:008.3S 100.8E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 28, 00:008.6S 100.7E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Nov 28, 06:009.0S 100.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Nov 28, 12:009.4S 101.0E35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 28, 18:009.8S 101.4E35 kt993 mbTropical storm
Nov 29, 00:0010.2S 101.8E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 29, 06:0010.5S 102.3E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 29, 12:0010.6S 102.9E35 kt991 mbTropical storm
Nov 29, 18:0010.7S 103.5E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 30, 00:0010.8S 104.2E35 kt988 mbTropical storm
Nov 30, 06:0010.9S 105.0E35 kt987 mbTropical storm
Nov 30, 12:0010.9S 105.8E35 kt986 mbTropical storm
Nov 30, 18:0010.9S 106.6E30 kt984 mbTropical storm
Dec 1, 00:0010.9S 107.4E25 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 1, 06:0010.8S 108.2E25 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 1, 12:0010.7S 109.0E25 kt973 mbTropical storm
Dec 1, 18:0010.6S 109.8E30 kt972 mbTropical storm
Dec 2, 00:0010.5S 110.6E30 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 2, 06:0010.3S 111.4E35 kt968 mbTropical storm
Dec 2, 12:0010.2S 112.1E40 kt967 mbTropical storm
Dec 2, 18:0010.1S 112.6E45 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 3, 00:009.9S 113.0E50 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 3, 06:009.8S 113.4E60 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 3, 12:009.8S 113.8E70 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 3, 18:009.9S 114.2E75 kt947 mbTropical storm
Dec 4, 00:0010.0S 114.4E75 kt950 mbTropical storm
Dec 4, 06:0010.2S 114.4E75 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 4, 12:0010.6S 114.6E75 kt958 mbTropical storm
Dec 4, 18:0011.1S 114.7E75 kt958 mbTropical storm
Dec 5, 00:0011.4S 114.8E70 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 5, 06:0011.8S 114.8E65 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 5, 12:0012.2S 114.8E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 5, 18:0012.6S 114.7E55 kt972 mbTropical storm
Dec 6, 00:0013.1S 114.5E50 kt978 mbTropical storm
Dec 6, 06:0013.8S 114.3E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 6, 12:0014.5S 114.0E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Dec 6, 18:0015.2S 113.7E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Dec 7, 00:0014.9S 114.3E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Dec 7, 06:0015.3S 114.1E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Dec 7, 12:0015.6S 113.8E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm

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.