Tropical Storm Elsie (1987)
Tropical Storm Elsie peaked at 60 kt in the South Indian between February 21, 1987 and February 27, 1987, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Tropical Storm Elsie. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.























Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- South Indian
- Dates
- February 21, 1987 to February 27, 1987
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 60 kt (69 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 940 mb (27.76 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 3.1
- Identifier
- SH181987
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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 12:00 | 15.1S 127.4E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 21, 18:00 | 15.2S 126.3E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 22, 00:00 | 15.3S 125.1E | 25 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 22, 06:00 | 15.4S 124.0E | 30 kt | 993 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 22, 12:00 | 15.6S 123.0E | 30 kt | 986 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 22, 18:00 | 15.8S 122.1E | 30 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 23, 00:00 | 15.8S 121.4E | 35 kt | 978 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 23, 06:00 | 15.8S 120.9E | 35 kt | 976 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 23, 12:00 | 15.8S 120.7E | 40 kt | 964 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 23, 18:00 | 15.9S 120.9E | 40 kt | 957 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 24, 00:00 | 16.2S 121.2E | 45 kt | 953 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 24, 06:00 | 16.6S 121.5E | 45 kt | 951 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 24, 12:00 | 17.2S 121.6E | 45 kt | 949 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 24, 18:00 | 17.9S 121.4E | 50 kt | 947 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 25, 00:00 | 18.6S 121.2E | 55 kt | 945 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 25, 06:00 | 19.3S 121.0E | 60 kt | 941 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 25, 12:00 | 19.9S 121.0E | 55 kt | 941 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 25, 18:00 | 20.7S 121.3E | 45 kt | 955 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 26, 00:00 | 22.0S 121.8E | 40 kt | 970 mb | Mixed |
| Feb 26, 06:00 | 22.0S 121.7E | 50 kt | 980 mb | Mixed |
| Feb 26, 12:00 | 22.9S 122.1E | 35 kt | 984 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 26, 18:00 | 23.3S 122.9E | 30 kt | 988 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 27, 00:00 | 23.5S 123.5E | 25 kt | 992 mb | Mixed |
| Feb 27, 06:00 | 23.8S 124.9E | 20 kt | 998 mb | Mixed |
Other South Indian storms of 1987
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Indian · 1987
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Indian · 1987
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Indian · 1987
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Indian · 1987
- Tropical Storm ConnieSouth Indian · 1987
- Cyclone AlininaSouth Indian · 1987
- Tropical Storm DamienSouth Indian · 1987
- Tropical Storm BemazavaSouth Indian · 1987
- Tropical Storm ClotildaSouth Indian · 1987
- Cyclone DaodoSouth Indian · 1987
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Indian · 1987
- Cyclone ElizabethaSouth Indian · 1987
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Indian · 1987
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.