The 2016 season

Cyclone Vardah (2016)

Cyclone Vardah reached Category 2 in the North Indian between December 6, 2016 and December 19, 2016, with a lowest pressure of 959 mb, and made landfall. It killed 38 people and did $2.1 billion of damage, as Wikidata records it.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Vardah, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2016 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
North Indian
Dates
December 6, 2016 to December 19, 2016
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
959 mb (28.32 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.4
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
120 nmi (222 km, 138 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached
25 nmi (46 km, 29 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
25 nmi (46 km, 29 mi)
Overall size
230 nmi (426 km, 265 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
21 kt (24 mph)
Identifier
IO052016

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

Wikidata

38 deaths$2.1 billion

A community-maintained total, usually direct and indirect deaths together and damage worldwide. Joined to this storm by its IBTrACS serial, not by name.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Dec 6, 06:007.8N 91.7E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 6, 12:008.3N 91.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 6, 18:008.7N 91.5E30 kt1004 mbDisturbance
Dec 7, 00:009.4N 91.5E30 kt1004 mbDisturbance
Dec 7, 06:0010.0N 91.8E30 kt1001 mbDisturbance
Dec 7, 12:0010.5N 92.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 7, 18:0010.8N 92.0E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Dec 8, 00:0011.0N 92.0E45 kt997 mbTropical storm
Dec 8, 06:0011.2N 92.0E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 8, 12:0011.2N 91.8E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 8, 18:0011.3N 91.5E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Dec 9, 00:0011.5N 91.0E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Dec 9, 06:0011.8N 90.6E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Dec 9, 12:0012.1N 90.0E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 9, 18:0012.4N 89.1E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 00:0012.6N 88.1E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 06:0012.8N 87.1E60 kt989 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 12:0012.8N 86.3E65 kt985 mbTyphoon
Dec 10, 18:0012.8N 85.4E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Dec 11, 00:0012.8N 84.9E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Dec 11, 06:0013.0N 83.9E75 kt980 mbTyphoon
Dec 11, 12:0013.1N 83.3E75 kt979 mbTyphoon
Dec 11, 18:0013.1N 82.4E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Dec 12, 00:0013.2N 81.8E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Dec 12, 06:0013.2N 80.9E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Dec 12, 12:0013.2N 79.8E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Dec 12, 18:0013.2N 78.8E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 00:0013.1N 77.8E30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Dec 13, 06:0013.0N 77.0E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Dec 13, 12:0013.1N 76.0E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Dec 13, 18:0013.2N 75.1E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Dec 14, 00:0013.2N 74.0E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Dec 14, 06:0013.1N 73.2E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Dec 14, 12:0012.9N 72.6E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Dec 14, 18:0012.6N 71.8E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Dec 15, 00:0012.2N 71.0E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Dec 15, 06:0011.8N 70.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Dec 15, 12:0011.4N 69.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Dec 15, 18:0011.1N 68.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Dec 16, 00:0011.2N 67.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 16, 06:0011.2N 66.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 16, 12:0011.2N 65.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 16, 18:0011.1N 64.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 17, 00:0010.8N 62.3E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 17, 06:0010.6N 61.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 17, 12:0010.4N 59.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 17, 18:009.8N 58.4E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 00:009.4N 56.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 06:009.3N 55.4E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 12:009.3N 53.7E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 18:009.2N 52.1E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 00:008.9N 51.0E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression

Other North Indian storms of 2016

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.