The 1988 season

Cyclone Filao (1988)

Cyclone Filao reached Category 2 in the South Indian between February 23, 1988 and March 2, 1988, with a lowest pressure of 954 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Filao, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1988 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
February 23, 1988 to March 2, 1988
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
954 mb (28.17 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.3
Fastest the center moved
11 kt (13 mph)
Identifier
SH141988

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
Feb 23, 12:0010.3S 51.0E20 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Feb 23, 18:0011.0S 50.8E20 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 00:0011.3S 50.5E24 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 06:0010.9S 49.9E25 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 12:0011.5S 49.5E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 18:0012.1S 48.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 25, 00:0013.0S 47.9E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 25, 06:0013.9S 47.2E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 25, 12:0014.5S 46.6E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 25, 18:0015.0S 46.0E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 00:0015.5S 45.3E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 06:0015.9S 44.5E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 12:0016.2S 43.9E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 18:0016.5S 43.3E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 00:0016.7S 42.7E30 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 06:0017.0S 42.2E30 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 12:0017.4S 41.7E35 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 18:0017.9S 41.1E40 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 00:0018.4S 40.5E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 06:0018.8S 40.0E55 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 12:0019.0S 39.9E60 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 18:0019.1S 40.0E65 kt984 mbTropical storm
Feb 29, 00:0019.2S 39.9E70 kt976 mbTropical storm
Feb 29, 06:0019.3S 39.8E75 kt966 mbTropical storm
Feb 29, 12:0019.3S 39.6E80 kt954 mbTropical storm
Feb 29, 18:0019.2S 39.5E80 kt966 mbTropical storm
Mar 1, 00:0019.0S 39.1E80 kt966 mbTropical storm
Mar 1, 06:0018.9S 38.5E85 kt954 mbTropical storm
Mar 1, 12:0018.8S 37.9E85 kt954 mbTropical storm
Mar 1, 18:0018.6S 37.1E85 kt954 mbTropical storm
Mar 2, 00:0018.2S 36.5E65 ktMixed
Mar 2, 06:0017.7S 36.0E40 ktTropical storm

Other South Indian storms of 1988

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.