Cyclone Vanessa path, 1976

What the record says

Vanessa was a cyclone in the South-West Indian basin that lasted about 13 days, from 15 January 1976 to 28 January 1976. Its peak was Category 3 (97 kt) on 24 January 1976, with a 1-minute sustained wind of 97 kt (112 mph, 180 km/h).

• Category 3peak intensity
• 97 ktpeak wind (112 mph)
• 13 dayslifetime

Source of the peak wind: Australian Bureau of Meteorology, converted from a 10-minute wind to a 1-minute equivalent. The regional forecast centre (Australian Bureau of Meteorology) gave a peak of 85 kt on its own averaging convention (10-minute winds), so the two figures differ.

It has its own page because it reached category 3 or stronger.

This page gives the official record's figures. It does not describe the human cost of the storm, which is far larger than any wind speed or pressure here.

Where it came ashore

The record shows no landfall: the storm stayed at sea.

Countries it came within 50 km of

Strongest effect first.

• Australia

How to read this track

The line joins the storm's six-hourly positions with straight lines, coloured by its intensity at each point, so it shows how the storm strengthened and weakened. The real path curved between the positions. A dashed grey stretch means the storm had become post-tropical. Records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are estimates.

Source: NOAA NCEI IBTrACS, public domain. See data sources and caveats.