Cyclone Alex (1982)

Basin

South Indian

Dates

October 18, 1981 to October 27, 1981

Peak strength

Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)

Landfall

No; closest approach 1222 km (759 mi)

Accumulated cyclone energy

11.9

Identifier

SH021982

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.

• Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Depression30 kt
• Cyclone Armelle:BessiSouth Indian · 1982Cat 180 kt · 976 mb
• Tropical Depression AmeliaSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Depression
• Cyclone BenedicteSouth Indian · 1982Cyclone72 kt · 954 mb
• Tropical Storm ClarisseeSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Storm45 kt · 997 mb
• Cyclone Chris:DamiaSouth Indian · 1982Cat 4120 kt · 898 mb
• Tropical Storm Daphne:FifiSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Storm50 kt · 986 mb
• Tropical Storm ErrolSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Storm50 kt · 980 mb
• Tropical Storm GrahamSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Storm45 kt · 980 mb
• Tropical Storm ElectreSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Storm45 kt · 984 mb
• Tropical Storm FridaSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Storm36 kt · 991 mb
• Tropical Storm GabrielleSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Storm44 kt · 984 mb
• Tropical Depression HeberteSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Depression28 kt · 997 mb
• Tropical Storm HarrietSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Storm35 kt · 988 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Storm45 kt
• Cyclone IanSouth Indian · 1982Cat 165 kt · 964 mb
• Tropical Depression IsabeauSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Depression28 kt · 997 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormSouth Indian · 1982Tropical Storm40 kt
• Cyclone JustineSouth Indian · 1982Cat 175 kt · 941 mb
• Cyclone KarlaSouth Indian · 1982Cat 3100 kt · 927 mb

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.

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.