The 1983 season

Cyclone William (1983)

Cyclone William reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between April 15, 1983 and April 23, 1983, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone William, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
April 15, 1983 to April 23, 1983
Peak strength
Category 1, 76 kt (87 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 3479 km (2162 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
9.7
Identifier
SH221983

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
Apr 15, 00:009.0S 132.0W30 kt997 mbNot reported
Apr 15, 06:009.5S 132.1WNot reported
Apr 15, 12:0010.0S 131.4W30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 18:0010.4S 131.6W32 ktTropical storm
Apr 16, 00:0010.9S 132.0W35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 06:0011.2S 132.4W37 ktTropical storm
Apr 16, 12:0011.6S 133.0W40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 18:0011.9S 133.4W42 ktTropical storm
Apr 17, 00:0012.4S 133.9W45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 17, 06:0012.9S 134.1W45 ktTropical storm
Apr 17, 12:0013.5S 134.4W45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 17, 18:0013.8S 134.5W46 ktTropical storm
Apr 18, 00:0014.2S 134.8W50 kt987 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 06:0014.6S 135.2W55 ktTropical storm
Apr 18, 12:0015.1S 136.0W60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 18:0015.5S 136.8W62 ktTropical storm
Apr 19, 00:0015.9S 137.7W65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 06:0016.0S 138.4W67 ktTropical storm
Apr 19, 12:0016.2S 139.1W70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 18:0016.7S 139.6W72 ktTropical storm
Apr 20, 00:0017.2S 139.9W75 kt955 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 06:0017.6S 139.9W76 ktTropical storm
Apr 20, 12:0018.2S 139.6W75 kt955 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 18:0018.8S 139.0W72 ktTropical storm
Apr 21, 00:0019.5S 138.3W70 kt955 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 06:0020.1S 137.3W67 ktTropical storm
Apr 21, 12:0020.8S 136.1W65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 18:0021.3S 134.7W62 ktTropical storm
Apr 22, 00:0021.9S 133.0W60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 06:0021.9S 130.8W55 ktTropical storm
Apr 22, 12:0022.0S 128.7W50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 18:0022.5S 126.5W43 ktTropical storm
Apr 23, 00:0023.5S 124.3W34 kt997 mbTropical storm

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.