The 1978 season

Cyclone Alby (1978)

Cyclone Alby reached Category 4 in the South Indian between March 27, 1978 and April 5, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 930 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Alby, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1978 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
March 27, 1978 to April 5, 1978
Peak strength
Category 4, 115 kt (132 mph)
Lowest pressure
930 mb (27.46 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 72 km (45 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
21.2
Fastest the center moved
65 kt (75 mph)
Identifier
SH291978

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
Mar 27, 00:0013.7S 115.0E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 27, 06:0013.9S 114.8E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 27, 12:0014.1S 114.5E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 27, 18:0014.3S 114.1E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 28, 00:0014.6S 113.7E30 ktTropical storm
Mar 28, 06:0014.7S 113.2E30 ktTropical storm
Mar 28, 12:0014.9S 112.8E30 ktTropical storm
Mar 28, 18:0015.3S 112.4E30 ktTropical storm
Mar 29, 00:0015.8S 112.2E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 29, 06:0016.2S 112.1E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 29, 12:0016.7S 111.9E40 ktTropical storm
Mar 29, 18:0017.1S 111.8E40 ktTropical storm
Mar 30, 00:0017.6S 111.6E45 ktTropical storm
Mar 30, 06:0018.0S 111.4E55 ktTropical storm
Mar 30, 12:0018.3S 111.1E65 ktTropical storm
Mar 30, 18:0018.6S 110.6E70 ktTropical storm
Mar 31, 00:0018.8S 110.1E75 ktTropical storm
Mar 31, 06:0019.0S 109.7E85 ktTropical storm
Mar 31, 12:0019.2S 109.3E90 ktTropical storm
Mar 31, 18:0019.5S 108.9E95 ktTropical storm
Apr 1, 00:0019.8S 108.4E100 ktTropical storm
Apr 1, 06:0020.2S 107.6E105 ktTropical storm
Apr 1, 12:0020.6S 106.8E110 ktTropical storm
Apr 1, 18:0021.0S 106.2E115 ktTropical storm
Apr 2, 00:0021.4S 105.9E115 ktTropical storm
Apr 2, 06:0021.7S 105.9E115 ktTropical storm
Apr 2, 12:0022.0S 106.0E115 ktTropical storm
Apr 2, 18:0022.6S 106.2E115 ktTropical storm
Apr 3, 00:0023.6S 106.4E110 ktTropical storm
Apr 3, 06:0024.8S 106.8E105 ktTropical storm
Apr 3, 12:0026.2S 107.3E100 ktTropical storm
Apr 3, 18:0027.9S 108.2E95 ktTropical storm
Apr 4, 00:0029.9S 109.6E90 ktTropical storm
Apr 4, 06:0032.3S 111.8E85 ktMixed
Apr 4, 12:0035.2S 115.0E75 ktMixed
Apr 4, 18:0037.9S 120.2EMixed
Apr 5, 00:0041.8S 126.3ETropical storm

Other South Indian storms of 1978

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.