The 1978 season

Cyclone Vern (1978)

Cyclone Vern reached Category 2 in the South Indian between January 27, 1978 and February 3, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 964 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Vern, 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 27, 1978 to February 3, 1978
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
964 mb (28.47 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.5
Identifier
SH161978

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 27, 06:0016.0S 114.2ETropical storm
Jan 27, 12:0016.0S 113.2E35 ktTropical storm
Jan 27, 18:0015.6S 112.3E35 ktTropical storm
Jan 28, 00:0015.6S 111.4E35 ktTropical storm
Jan 28, 06:0016.1S 110.5E40 ktTropical storm
Jan 28, 12:0016.4S 109.7E50 ktTropical storm
Jan 28, 18:0016.3S 110.9E55 ktTropical storm
Jan 29, 00:0016.1S 112.7E60 ktTropical storm
Jan 29, 06:0016.0S 113.3E60 ktTropical storm
Jan 29, 12:0015.8S 114.0E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 29, 18:0015.7S 114.6E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 30, 00:0015.7S 115.3E70 ktTropical storm
Jan 30, 06:0015.9S 116.3E70 ktTropical storm
Jan 30, 12:0016.2S 117.6E75 ktTropical storm
Jan 30, 18:0016.6S 118.8E80 ktTropical storm
Jan 31, 00:0017.0S 120.0E85 ktTropical storm
Jan 31, 06:0017.5S 120.8E85 ktTropical storm
Jan 31, 12:0018.0S 121.2E85 ktTropical storm
Jan 31, 18:0018.4S 121.4E85 ktTropical storm
Feb 1, 00:0018.8S 121.4E85 ktTropical storm
Feb 1, 06:0019.3S 121.2E75 ktTropical storm
Feb 1, 12:0019.9S 120.9E65 ktTropical storm
Feb 1, 18:0020.4S 120.6E55 ktTropical storm
Feb 2, 00:0020.9S 120.3E45 ktTropical storm
Feb 2, 06:0021.6S 120.2E40 ktTropical storm
Feb 2, 12:0022.4S 120.2E40 ktTropical storm
Feb 2, 18:0023.0S 120.5E40 ktTropical storm
Feb 3, 00:0023.6S 121.0E35 ktTropical 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.