The 1991 season

Cyclone Alison (1991)

Cyclone Alison reached Category 1 in the South Indian between January 8, 1991 and January 18, 1991, with a lowest pressure of 1002 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Alison, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1991 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 Indian
Dates
January 8, 1991 to January 18, 1991
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
1002 mb (29.59 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1624 km (1009 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
5.0
Identifier
SH071991

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
Jan 8, 00:008.8S 78.4E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 06:008.8S 78.9E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 12:008.8S 79.4E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 18:008.8S 79.9E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 00:008.9S 80.3ETropical storm
Jan 9, 06:008.4S 80.9E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 9, 12:008.4S 81.1E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 9, 18:008.4S 81.3E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 10, 00:008.4S 81.5E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 10, 06:008.4S 81.7E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 10, 12:008.4S 81.9E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 10, 18:008.4S 82.1E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 11, 00:008.4S 82.5E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 11, 06:008.6S 82.8E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 11, 12:008.9S 83.1E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 11, 18:009.3S 83.1E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 12, 00:009.8S 83.0E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 12, 06:0010.3S 82.8E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 12, 12:0010.7S 82.7E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 12, 18:0011.0S 82.3E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 00:0011.3S 81.9E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 06:0011.4S 81.4E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 12:0011.4S 81.2E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 18:0011.5S 81.1E35 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 00:0011.6S 80.9E45 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 06:0011.9S 80.8E45 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 12:0012.4S 80.9E45 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 18:0012.9S 81.1E55 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 00:0013.4S 81.3E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 06:0014.3S 81.7E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 12:0015.4S 82.0E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 18:0016.4S 82.2E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 16, 00:0017.4S 82.2E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 16, 06:0018.6S 82.2E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 16, 12:0019.9S 82.1E60 ktTropical storm
Jan 16, 18:0021.0S 82.1E55 ktTropical storm
Jan 17, 00:0022.1S 82.0E50 ktTropical storm
Jan 17, 06:0023.2S 82.2E45 ktTropical storm
Jan 17, 12:0024.2S 82.3E40 ktTropical storm
Jan 17, 18:0025.2S 82.6E35 ktTropical storm
Jan 18, 00:0026.3S 83.8E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 18, 06:0027.4S 85.6ETropical storm
Jan 18, 12:0027.9S 87.0EDisturbance

Other South Indian storms of 1991

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.