Tropical Storm Paula (1973)
Tropical Storm Paula peaked at 35 kt in the South Indian between March 25, 1973 and April 1, 1973, with a lowest pressure of 997 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Paula, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1973 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- South Indian
- Dates
- March 25, 1973 to April 1, 1973
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 35 kt (40 mph), ten-minute wind
- Lowest pressure
- 997 mb (29.44 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 275 km (171 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 0.6
- Identifier
- SH321973
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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 25, 18:00 | 8.6S 103.5E | Tropical storm | ||
| Mar 26, 00:00 | 8.6S 103.3E | 20 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 26, 06:00 | 8.8S 102.8E | 20 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 26, 12:00 | 9.1S 102.0E | 20 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 26, 18:00 | 9.4S 101.2E | 20 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 27, 00:00 | 9.8S 100.6E | 25 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 27, 06:00 | 10.2S 99.9E | 25 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 27, 12:00 | 10.6S 99.2E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 27, 18:00 | 11.0S 98.5E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 28, 00:00 | 11.4S 97.8E | 25 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 28, 06:00 | 11.9S 97.2E | 30 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 28, 12:00 | 12.3S 96.3E | 30 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 28, 18:00 | 12.8S 95.5E | 30 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 29, 00:00 | 13.2S 95.1E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 29, 06:00 | 13.7S 94.7E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 29, 12:00 | 14.1S 94.2E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 29, 18:00 | 14.6S 93.6E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 30, 00:00 | 15.0S 93.0E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 30, 06:00 | 15.4S 92.4E | 30 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 30, 12:00 | 15.7S 91.7E | 30 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 30, 18:00 | 16.0S 91.0E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 31, 00:00 | 16.1S 90.2E | 30 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 31, 06:00 | 15.9S 89.4E | 25 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 31, 12:00 | 15.5S 88.5E | 25 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 31, 18:00 | 15.0S 87.5E | 25 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 1, 00:00 | 14.5S 86.9E | 25 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Apr 1, 06:00 | 14.0S 86.5E | Tropical storm |
Other South Indian storms of 1973
- Tropical Depression ArianeSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression ArianeSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression Beatrice:IvySouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression CharlotteSouth Indian · 1973
- Cyclone JeanSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression DorotheeSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression EmmanuelleSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression FaustineSouth Indian · 1973
- Cyclone KerrySouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression Gertrude:LeilaSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression HortenseSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Storm MaudSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression JessySouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression IsisSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression KittySouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression JessySouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression LeahSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression LydieSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression LeahSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression LeahSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Storm NellieSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Storm BellaSouth Indian · 1973
- Tropical Depression RomaSouth Indian · 1973
- Cyclone FloresSouth Indian · 1973 · 1,650 deaths
- Tropical Storm MarcelleSouth Indian · 1973
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Indian · 1973
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. This storm’s winds are ten-minute averages from its regional agency. They read about 12 percent lower than the one-minute winds US agencies use, so a Saffir-Simpson category is not given for it.
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.