The 1990 season

Cyclone Alex (1990)

Cyclone Alex reached Category 4 in the South Indian between March 14, 1990 and March 26, 1990, with a lowest pressure of 927 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Alex, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1990 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 Indian
Dates
March 14, 1990 to March 26, 1990
Peak strength
Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)
Lowest pressure
927 mb (27.37 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 336 km (209 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
26.3
Identifier
SH241990

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 14, 12:0011.8S 115.2E20 ktTropical storm
Mar 14, 18:0011.9S 114.0E20 ktTropical storm
Mar 15, 00:0012.3S 113.3E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Mar 15, 06:0012.4S 112.9E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Mar 15, 12:0012.4S 112.6E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 15, 18:0012.4S 112.3E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Mar 16, 00:0012.6S 112.0E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Mar 16, 06:0012.8S 111.5E35 kt991 mbTropical storm
Mar 16, 12:0012.9S 110.9E40 kt988 mbTropical storm
Mar 16, 18:0012.8S 110.4E45 kt986 mbTropical storm
Mar 17, 00:0012.8S 110.0E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Mar 17, 06:0012.9S 109.6E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 17, 12:0013.1S 109.1E75 kt972 mbTropical storm
Mar 17, 18:0013.3S 108.6E80 kt962 mbTropical storm
Mar 18, 00:0013.6S 108.1E80 kt952 mbTropical storm
Mar 18, 06:0014.1S 107.5E90 kt947 mbTropical storm
Mar 18, 12:0014.6S 106.7E100 kt941 mbTropical storm
Mar 18, 18:0015.0S 105.8E105 kt938 mbTropical storm
Mar 19, 00:0015.3S 104.9E110 kt934 mbTropical storm
Mar 19, 06:0015.6S 104.8E115 kt930 mbTropical storm
Mar 19, 12:0016.0S 102.0E120 kt927 mbTropical storm
Mar 19, 18:0016.5S 101.7E125 kt927 mbTropical storm
Mar 20, 00:0017.0S 100.3E130 kt927 mbTropical storm
Mar 20, 06:0017.6S 99.0E130 kt941 mbTropical storm
Mar 20, 12:0018.1S 97.7E125 kt945 mbTropical storm
Mar 20, 18:0018.9S 96.3E125 kt950 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 00:0019.7S 95.2E120 kt954 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 06:0020.6S 94.2E115 kt960 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 12:0021.3S 93.2E110 kt966 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 18:0021.9S 92.3E105 kt972 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 00:0022.6S 91.7E95 kt976 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 06:0023.3S 91.2E85 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 12:0024.1S 91.0E70 kt984 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 18:0024.9S 90.9E60 kt987 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 00:0025.7S 91.0E50 kt991 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 06:0026.6S 91.8E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 12:0027.2S 92.9E40 kt997 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 18:0027.4S 94.0E35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 00:0027.6S 95.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 06:0026.3S 97.6E25 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 12:0025.5S 98.5E25 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 18:0024.9S 99.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 00:0022.0S 99.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 06:0020.2S 99.0E25 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 12:0019.4S 98.0E1006 mbNot reported
Mar 25, 18:0018.8S 96.6E1007 mbNot reported
Mar 26, 00:0018.2S 94.9E1008 mbNot reported

Other South Indian storms of 1990

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.