The 1982 season

Cyclone Armelle:Bessi (1982)

Cyclone Armelle:Bessi reached Category 1 in the South Indian between November 1, 1981 and November 20, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 976 mb.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Cyclone Armelle:Bessi. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
South Indian
Dates
November 1, 1981 to November 20, 1981
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
976 mb (28.82 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 323 km (201 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
11.7
Identifier
SH031982

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
Nov 1, 18:003.0S 96.3ETropical storm
Nov 2, 00:003.5S 96.2ETropical storm
Nov 2, 06:004.0S 96.0ETropical storm
Nov 2, 12:004.6S 95.8ETropical storm
Nov 2, 18:005.0S 95.5ETropical storm
Nov 3, 00:005.9S 95.1ETropical storm
Nov 3, 06:006.5S 94.5ETropical storm
Nov 3, 12:006.7S 94.3ETropical storm
Nov 3, 18:008.6S 92.9E55 ktTropical storm
Nov 4, 00:008.8S 92.5E55 ktTropical storm
Nov 4, 06:009.2S 91.7E55 ktTropical storm
Nov 4, 12:0010.3S 90.8E50 ktTropical storm
Nov 4, 18:0010.3S 89.6E50 ktTropical storm
Nov 5, 00:009.6S 88.3E50 ktTropical storm
Nov 5, 06:009.0S 87.1E50 ktTropical storm
Nov 5, 12:008.4S 85.8E40 ktTropical storm
Nov 5, 18:008.0S 85.0E40 ktTropical storm
Nov 6, 00:009.7S 87.4E45 ktTropical storm
Nov 6, 06:0010.4S 88.8E50 ktTropical storm
Nov 6, 12:0010.1S 88.9E50 ktTropical storm
Nov 6, 18:0010.0S 88.3E50 ktTropical storm
Nov 7, 00:0010.2S 87.2E55 ktTropical storm
Nov 7, 06:0010.7S 86.8E55 ktTropical storm
Nov 7, 12:0011.7S 87.0E60 ktTropical storm
Nov 7, 18:0012.2S 87.1E65 ktTropical storm
Nov 8, 00:0012.4S 87.1E70 ktTropical storm
Nov 8, 06:0012.5S 86.8E70 ktTropical storm
Nov 8, 12:0012.7S 85.7E80 ktTropical storm
Nov 8, 18:0012.7S 85.0E80 ktTropical storm
Nov 9, 00:0012.2S 85.1E75 ktTropical storm
Nov 9, 06:0012.0S 84.7E70 ktTropical storm
Nov 9, 12:0012.0S 82.9E65 ktTropical storm
Nov 9, 18:0011.8S 82.2E65 ktTropical storm
Nov 10, 00:0010.8S 82.8E60 ktTropical storm
Nov 10, 06:0010.4S 82.9E55 ktTropical storm
Nov 10, 12:0010.4S 82.5E50 ktTropical storm
Nov 10, 18:0010.4S 82.0E50 ktTropical storm
Nov 11, 00:0010.4S 81.5E50 ktTropical storm
Nov 11, 06:0010.4S 80.7E50 ktTropical storm
Nov 11, 12:0011.0S 79.5E50 ktTropical storm
Nov 11, 18:0012.0S 78.0E50 ktTropical storm
Nov 12, 00:0011.2S 78.6ETropical storm
Nov 12, 06:0011.0S 78.0ETropical storm
Nov 12, 12:0010.8S 77.9ETropical storm
Nov 12, 18:0010.8S 77.7ETropical storm
Nov 13, 00:0010.8S 77.2ETropical storm
Nov 13, 06:0011.0S 77.0E52 kt976 mbTropical storm
Nov 13, 12:0011.7S 76.7ETropical storm
Nov 13, 18:0012.2S 76.1ETropical storm
Nov 14, 00:0013.0S 76.7ETropical storm
Nov 14, 06:0014.0S 75.0ETropical storm
Nov 14, 12:0014.2S 74.8ETropical storm
Nov 14, 18:0014.4S 74.6ETropical storm
Nov 15, 00:0014.5S 74.3ETropical storm
Nov 15, 06:0014.5S 74.0ETropical storm
Nov 15, 12:0014.7S 73.6ETropical storm
Nov 15, 18:0014.5S 72.8ETropical storm
Nov 16, 00:0014.1S 72.0ETropical storm
Nov 16, 06:0014.0S 71.0ETropical storm
Nov 16, 12:0014.0S 70.0ETropical storm
Nov 16, 18:0013.9S 69.1ETropical storm
Nov 17, 00:0013.8S 68.0E36 kt991 mbTropical storm
Nov 17, 06:0013.8S 67.0E36 kt991 mbTropical storm
Nov 17, 12:0013.8S 66.1E36 kt991 mbTropical storm
Nov 17, 18:0013.8S 65.1E36 kt991 mbTropical storm
Nov 18, 00:0013.8S 64.1E28 kt997 mbTropical storm
Nov 18, 06:0013.8S 63.3E28 kt997 mbTropical storm
Nov 18, 12:0013.8S 62.7E28 kt997 mbTropical storm
Nov 18, 18:0013.8S 61.9E24 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 19, 00:0013.8S 61.1E24 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 19, 06:0013.8S 60.3E24 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 19, 12:0013.5S 58.9EMixed
Nov 19, 18:0013.4S 57.7EMixed
Nov 20, 00:0013.2S 56.1EMixed
Nov 20, 06:0013.0S 54.2E20 ktMixed

Other South Indian storms of 1982

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.