The 1996 season

Cyclone Bonita (1996)

Cyclone Bonita reached Category 4 in the South Indian between December 31, 1995 and January 15, 1996, with a lowest pressure of 920 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Bonita, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1996 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
December 31, 1995 to January 15, 1996
Peak strength
Category 4, 135 kt (155 mph)
Lowest pressure
920 mb (27.17 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
27.3
Fastest the center moved
15 kt (17 mph)
Identifier
SH061996

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Dec 31, 18:008.0S 75.0E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 1, 00:008.4S 74.6E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 1, 06:008.7S 74.4E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 1, 12:009.0S 74.1E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 1, 18:009.3S 73.8E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 2, 00:009.6S 73.3E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 2, 06:009.8S 72.9E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 2, 12:0010.2S 72.4E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 2, 18:0010.5S 72.0E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 3, 00:0010.8S 71.7E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 3, 06:0011.1S 71.5E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 3, 12:0011.4S 71.3E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 18:0011.6S 71.2E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 00:0011.8S 71.1E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 06:0012.1S 71.0E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 12:0012.4S 70.9E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 18:0012.7S 70.8E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 00:0013.1S 70.6E25 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 06:0013.6S 70.2E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 12:0014.0S 69.6E30 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 18:0014.4S 68.9E30 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 00:0014.6S 68.0E30 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 06:0014.7S 66.9E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 12:0014.8S 65.7E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 18:0014.9S 64.4E35 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 00:0015.3S 63.2E45 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 06:0015.7S 62.4E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 12:0016.2S 61.4E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 18:0016.4S 60.5E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 00:0016.8S 59.5E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 06:0017.4S 58.8E100 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 12:0017.8S 57.8E115 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 18:0018.2S 56.6E115 kt920 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 00:0018.5S 55.5E120 kt920 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 06:0018.6S 54.9E130 kt925 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 12:0018.7S 54.3E135 kt930 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 18:0018.6S 53.4E135 kt935 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 00:0018.5S 52.6E135 kt935 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 06:0018.4S 52.0E130 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 12:0018.2S 51.3E125 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 18:0017.9S 50.6E115 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 00:0017.5S 49.3E110 ktTropical storm
Jan 11, 06:0017.2S 47.9E100 ktTropical storm
Jan 11, 12:0017.0S 46.5E75 ktTropical storm
Jan 11, 18:0016.9S 45.0E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 12, 00:0016.8S 43.7E65 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 06:0017.0S 42.5E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 12:0017.2S 41.5E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 18:0017.5S 40.7E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 00:0017.6S 39.8E55 kt988 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 06:0017.6S 38.9E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 12:0017.6S 38.3E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 18:0017.8S 37.5E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 00:0018.0S 36.7E70 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 06:0018.3S 35.9E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 12:0018.6S 35.6E55 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 18:0018.9S 35.3E45 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 00:0019.1S 34.8E40 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 06:0019.3S 34.3E25 ktTropical storm

Other South Indian storms of 1996

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.