The 1983 season

Cyclone Tomasi (1983)

Cyclone Tomasi reached Category 3 in the South Pacific between March 27, 1983 and April 5, 1983, with a lowest pressure of 925 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Tomasi, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1983 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 Pacific
Dates
March 27, 1983 to April 5, 1983
Peak strength
Category 3, 102 kt (117 mph)
Lowest pressure
925 mb (27.32 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 627 km (390 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
11.3
Identifier
SH191983

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
Mar 27, 00:007.7S 156.2W25 ktTropical storm
Mar 27, 06:008.3S 156.0W28 ktTropical storm
Mar 27, 12:008.8S 156.1W30 ktTropical storm
Mar 27, 18:009.4S 156.4W29 ktTropical storm
Mar 28, 00:0010.0S 157.0W30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 06:0010.4S 157.7W32 ktTropical storm
Mar 28, 12:0010.9S 158.5W35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 18:0011.2S 159.2W37 ktTropical storm
Mar 29, 00:0011.7S 160.2W40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 06:0012.3S 161.5W43 ktTropical storm
Mar 29, 12:0013.2S 163.1W49 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 18:0014.1S 164.5W60 ktTropical storm
Mar 30, 00:0015.1S 165.7W70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 06:0015.7S 166.4W80 ktTropical storm
Mar 30, 12:0016.3S 167.0W90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 18:0017.0S 167.5W96 ktTropical storm
Mar 31, 00:0017.8S 168.0W100 kt930 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 06:0018.4S 168.2W102 ktTropical storm
Mar 31, 12:0019.1S 168.4W100 kt925 mbTropical storm
Mar 31, 18:0019.6S 168.5W92 ktTropical storm
Apr 1, 00:0020.2S 168.5W85 kt930 mbTropical storm
Apr 1, 06:0020.9S 168.4W77 ktTropical storm
Apr 1, 12:0021.7S 168.3W70 kt955 mbTropical storm
Apr 1, 18:0022.3S 168.2W62 ktTropical storm
Apr 2, 00:0023.0S 168.1W55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Apr 2, 06:0023.5S 167.8W49 ktTropical storm
Apr 2, 12:0024.0S 167.6W45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 2, 18:0024.4S 167.2W42 ktTropical storm
Apr 3, 00:0024.8S 167.0W40 kt987 mbTropical storm
Apr 3, 06:0025.1S 166.8W35 ktTropical storm
Apr 3, 12:0025.6S 166.7W30 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 3, 18:0026.9S 165.8WNot reported
Apr 4, 00:0027.5S 165.5W30 kt997 mbNot reported
Apr 4, 06:0028.1S 165.1WNot reported
Apr 4, 12:0028.9S 164.5W30 kt997 mbNot reported
Apr 4, 18:0029.9S 163.6WNot reported
Apr 5, 00:0031.0S 162.5W30 kt997 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1983

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.