Tropical cyclone Agnes path, 1972

What the record says

Agnes was a tropical cyclone in the South-West Indian basin that lasted about 15 days, from 9 December 1971 to 24 December 1971. The record has no wind speed for it, so its intensity is unknown.

• Unknownpeak intensity
• 15 dayslifetime

It has its own page because it is among the best-known storms in the record and it is a well-known storm.

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

• 23 December 1971: Madagascar

A landfall here is the first tropical position over land after time at sea, so it is within about six hours of the real event. The record shows up to 8.

Countries it came within 50 km of

Strongest effect first.

• Madagascar
• French Southern and Antarctic Lands

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.