The 1959 season

Tropical Depression Bertha (1959)

Tropical Depression Bertha peaked at unknown kt in the South Indian between January 4, 1959 and January 22, 1959, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Depression Bertha, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1959 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
January 4, 1959 to January 22, 1959
Peak strength
Tropical Depression
Lowest pressure
980 mb (28.94 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
0.0
Identifier
SH091959

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jan 4, 06:0014.2S 124.1ENot reported
Jan 4, 12:0014.5S 124.5ENot reported
Jan 4, 18:0014.8S 124.8ENot reported
Jan 5, 00:0013.1S 123.2ETropical storm
Jan 5, 06:0013.4S 123.6ETropical storm
Jan 5, 12:0013.6S 124.0ETropical storm
Jan 5, 18:0013.9S 124.4ETropical storm
Jan 6, 00:0014.1S 124.8ETropical storm
Jan 6, 06:0014.3S 125.0ETropical storm
Jan 6, 12:0014.4S 125.2ETropical storm
Jan 6, 18:0014.6S 125.6ETropical storm
Jan 7, 00:0014.7S 125.8ETropical storm
Jan 7, 06:0014.8S 126.0ETropical storm
Jan 7, 12:0014.9S 126.2ETropical storm
Jan 7, 18:0015.0S 126.5ETropical storm
Jan 8, 00:0015.0S 126.8ETropical storm
Jan 8, 06:0015.3S 127.3ETropical storm
Jan 8, 12:0015.8S 127.9ETropical storm
Jan 8, 18:0016.4S 128.3ETropical storm
Jan 9, 00:0017.0S 128.4ETropical storm
Jan 9, 06:0016.9S 127.5E993 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 12:0016.5S 126.7ETropical storm
Jan 9, 18:0015.6S 126.4ETropical storm
Jan 10, 00:0015.1S 126.3ETropical storm
Jan 10, 06:0015.0S 126.3ETropical storm
Jan 10, 12:0014.9S 126.4E994 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 18:0014.8S 126.4ETropical storm
Jan 11, 00:0014.7S 126.7ETropical storm
Jan 11, 06:0014.9S 127.6ETropical storm
Jan 11, 12:0015.4S 128.6ETropical storm
Jan 11, 18:0016.3S 129.3ETropical storm
Jan 12, 00:0016.8S 130.4ETropical storm
Jan 12, 06:0016.9S 131.9ETropical storm
Jan 12, 12:0017.0S 133.3ETropical storm
Jan 12, 18:0017.1S 134.8ETropical storm
Jan 13, 00:0017.2S 136.2ETropical storm
Jan 13, 06:0017.4S 137.7ETropical storm
Jan 13, 12:0017.7S 139.1ETropical storm
Jan 13, 18:0018.1S 140.6ETropical storm
Jan 14, 00:0018.6S 141.8ETropical storm
Jan 14, 06:0019.6S 141.6ETropical storm
Jan 14, 12:0019.7S 140.8ETropical storm
Jan 14, 18:0019.2S 140.1ETropical storm
Jan 15, 00:0018.6S 139.7ETropical storm
Jan 15, 06:0018.1S 139.8ETropical storm
Jan 15, 12:0017.5S 140.0ETropical storm
Jan 15, 18:0016.9S 139.9ETropical storm
Jan 16, 00:0016.6S 139.6ETropical storm
Jan 16, 06:0016.3S 139.0ETropical storm
Jan 16, 12:0016.0S 138.3ETropical storm
Jan 16, 18:0015.7S 137.8ETropical storm
Jan 17, 00:0015.3S 137.3ETropical storm
Jan 17, 06:0014.8S 137.1ETropical storm
Jan 17, 12:0014.5S 137.1ETropical storm
Jan 17, 18:0014.7S 137.5ETropical storm
Jan 18, 00:0015.1S 138.2ETropical storm
Jan 18, 06:0015.5S 139.1ETropical storm
Jan 18, 12:0016.0S 139.9ETropical storm
Jan 18, 18:0016.2S 140.6ETropical storm
Jan 19, 00:0016.3S 141.5ETropical storm
Jan 19, 06:0016.3S 142.7ETropical storm
Jan 19, 12:0016.3S 143.9ETropical storm
Jan 19, 18:0016.5S 145.1ETropical storm
Jan 20, 00:0016.7S 146.3ETropical storm
Jan 20, 06:0016.5S 148.4ETropical storm
Jan 20, 12:0016.4S 150.6ETropical storm
Jan 20, 18:0017.1S 152.5ETropical storm
Jan 21, 00:0017.6S 154.5ETropical storm
Jan 21, 06:0017.3S 157.1ETropical storm
Jan 21, 12:0017.3S 159.5ETropical storm
Jan 21, 18:0019.3S 161.1ETropical storm
Jan 22, 00:0020.8S 161.4ETropical storm
Jan 22, 06:0021.4S 161.0ETropical storm
Jan 22, 12:0021.6S 160.4ETropical storm
Jan 22, 18:0021.6S 159.7ETropical storm

Other South Indian storms of 1959

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.