The 1978 season

Cyclone Trudy (1978)

Cyclone Trudy reached Category 2 in the South Indian between January 10, 1978 and January 20, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 954 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Trudy, 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
January 10, 1978 to January 20, 1978
Peak strength
Category 2, 95 kt (109 mph)
Lowest pressure
954 mb (28.17 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 57 km (35 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
16.0
Identifier
SH121978

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 10, 00:0010.6S 129.0E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 06:0010.7S 126.9E25 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 12:0010.8S 125.0E25 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 18:0010.9S 123.4E25 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 00:0011.3S 121.7E25 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 06:0011.9S 119.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 12:0012.6S 117.0E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 18:0013.2S 114.7E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 00:0013.9S 112.5E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 06:0014.0S 110.3E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 12:0013.6S 108.2E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 18:0013.3S 106.4E55 kt983 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 00:0013.0S 105.0E60 kt981 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 06:0012.9S 103.8E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 12:0013.3S 102.8E75 kt969 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 18:0014.0S 101.9E80 kt967 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 00:0014.7S 101.0E85 kt964 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 06:0015.4S 100.1E85 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 12:0016.1S 99.1E85 kt968 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 18:0016.7S 97.9E80 kt971 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 00:0017.1S 96.7E75 kt973 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 06:0017.3S 95.5E80 kt969 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 12:0017.4S 94.3E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 18:0017.5S 93.2E95 kt957 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 00:0017.6S 92.1E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 06:0017.8S 91.2E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 12:0018.0S 90.3E90 kt957 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 18:0018.2S 89.5E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 17, 00:0018.6S 88.7E85 kt964 mbTropical storm
Jan 17, 06:0019.3S 88.2E80 kt968 mbTropical storm
Jan 17, 12:0020.1S 88.0E75 kt972 mbTropical storm
Jan 17, 18:0020.9S 88.0E70 kt976 mbTropical storm
Jan 18, 00:0021.7S 88.1E60 kt981 mbTropical storm
Jan 18, 06:0022.3S 88.2E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 18, 12:0022.8S 88.3E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Jan 18, 18:0023.3S 88.4E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Jan 19, 00:0023.8S 88.6E35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Jan 19, 06:0024.2S 88.7E35 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Jan 19, 12:0024.6S 88.9E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 19, 18:0024.9S 89.0E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 20, 00:0025.2S 89.2E25 kt1006 mbTropical 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.