The 1978 season

Tropical Storm Brenda (1978)

Tropical Storm Brenda peaked at 45 kt in the South Indian between April 5, 1978 and April 14, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 990 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Brenda, 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
April 5, 1978 to April 14, 1978
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 45 kt (52 mph)
Lowest pressure
990 mb (29.23 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 79 km (49 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.1
Identifier
SH311978

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
Apr 5, 00:0011.0S 120.4E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 06:0011.3S 120.0E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 12:0011.5S 119.5E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 18:0011.6S 118.9E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 00:0011.7S 118.4E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 06:0011.7S 118.0E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 12:0011.8S 117.6E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 18:0011.9S 117.2E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 7, 00:0012.0S 116.7E35 ktTropical storm
Apr 7, 06:0012.1S 116.3E35 ktTropical storm
Apr 7, 12:0012.3S 115.8E40 ktTropical storm
Apr 7, 18:0012.5S 115.4E45 ktTropical storm
Apr 8, 00:0012.8S 114.9E45 ktTropical storm
Apr 8, 06:0013.1S 114.5E45 ktTropical storm
Apr 8, 12:0013.5S 114.0E45 ktTropical storm
Apr 8, 18:0014.0S 113.7E45 ktTropical storm
Apr 9, 00:0014.4S 113.6E45 ktTropical storm
Apr 9, 06:0014.7S 113.7E45 ktTropical storm
Apr 9, 12:0014.8S 113.9E45 ktTropical storm
Apr 9, 18:0014.8S 114.2E45 ktTropical storm
Apr 10, 00:0014.8S 114.6E45 ktTropical storm
Apr 10, 06:0015.0S 115.1E45 ktTropical storm
Apr 10, 12:0015.3S 115.5E40 ktTropical storm
Apr 10, 18:0015.5S 115.9E40 ktTropical storm
Apr 11, 00:0015.7S 116.2E35 ktTropical storm
Apr 11, 06:0015.8S 116.5E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 11, 12:0015.9S 116.8E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 11, 18:0015.9S 117.1E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 12, 00:0016.0S 117.5E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 12, 06:0016.3S 117.5E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 12, 12:0016.7S 117.2E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 12, 18:0016.9S 116.7E30 ktTropical storm
Apr 13, 00:0017.0S 115.9E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 13, 06:0017.2S 115.3ETropical storm
Apr 13, 12:0017.3S 114.3ETropical storm
Apr 13, 18:0017.4S 113.3ETropical storm
Apr 14, 00:0017.5S 112.1ETropical 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.