The 1997 season

Cyclone Rhonda (1997)

Cyclone Rhonda reached Category 3 in the South Indian between May 4, 1997 and May 17, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 935 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Rhonda, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1997 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
South Indian
Dates
May 4, 1997 to May 17, 1997
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
935 mb (27.61 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 159 km (99 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.8
Identifier
SH361997

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
May 4, 12:008.1S 79.4E15 ktTropical storm
May 4, 18:008.0S 79.0E15 ktTropical storm
May 5, 00:007.9S 78.6E15 ktTropical storm
May 5, 06:007.7S 78.2E15 ktTropical storm
May 5, 12:007.5S 77.9E15 ktTropical storm
May 5, 18:007.3S 77.6E15 ktTropical storm
May 6, 00:007.1S 77.1E15 ktTropical storm
May 6, 06:007.0S 76.6E15 ktTropical storm
May 6, 12:007.0S 76.1E15 ktTropical storm
May 6, 18:007.3S 75.8E15 ktTropical storm
May 7, 00:007.7S 75.6E15 ktTropical storm
May 7, 06:008.0S 75.5E15 ktTropical storm
May 7, 12:008.3S 75.4E15 ktTropical storm
May 7, 18:008.7S 75.5E15 ktTropical storm
May 8, 00:009.0S 75.8E15 ktTropical storm
May 8, 06:009.4S 76.2E20 ktTropical storm
May 8, 12:009.7S 76.9E20 ktTropical storm
May 8, 18:0010.0S 77.9E20 ktTropical storm
May 9, 00:0010.3S 79.2E20 ktTropical storm
May 9, 06:0010.6S 80.6E20 ktTropical storm
May 9, 12:0010.9S 82.1E20 ktTropical storm
May 9, 18:0011.2S 83.6E25 ktTropical storm
May 10, 00:0011.5S 84.9E25 ktTropical storm
May 10, 06:0011.6S 86.1E25 ktTropical storm
May 10, 12:0011.5S 87.4E30 ktTropical storm
May 10, 18:0011.4S 88.7E35 ktTropical storm
May 11, 00:0011.5S 89.9E40 ktTropical storm
May 11, 06:0011.6S 90.5E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 11, 12:0011.7S 90.9E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
May 11, 18:0011.8S 91.3E45 kt988 mbTropical storm
May 12, 00:0012.0S 91.7E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
May 12, 06:0012.3S 92.0E55 kt981 mbTropical storm
May 12, 12:0012.6S 92.4E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
May 12, 18:0012.9S 92.8E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
May 13, 00:0013.2S 93.3E70 kt973 mbTropical storm
May 13, 06:0013.5S 93.8E75 kt966 mbTropical storm
May 13, 12:0013.9S 94.3E80 kt958 mbTropical storm
May 13, 18:0014.6S 95.1E90 kt953 mbTropical storm
May 14, 00:0015.4S 96.1E100 kt946 mbTropical storm
May 14, 06:0016.3S 97.1E100 kt938 mbTropical storm
May 14, 12:0017.2S 98.2E100 kt946 mbTropical storm
May 14, 18:0018.1S 99.3E95 kt951 mbTropical storm
May 15, 00:0019.1S 100.3E75 kt961 mbTropical storm
May 15, 06:0019.8S 101.7E65 kt971 mbTropical storm
May 15, 12:0020.7S 103.6E60 kt976 mbTropical storm
May 15, 18:0021.7S 105.7E55 kt981 mbTropical storm
May 16, 00:0023.1S 107.6E45 kt988 mbTropical storm
May 16, 06:0024.1S 108.8E40 kt997 mbTropical storm
May 16, 12:0024.8S 109.6E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 16, 18:0025.3S 110.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 17, 00:0025.8S 110.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 17, 06:0026.3S 111.3E30 kt1001 mbTropical storm
May 17, 12:0026.8S 111.8E25 ktTropical storm

Other South Indian storms of 1997

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.