The 1997 season

Cyclone Bellamine:Melanie (1997)

Cyclone Bellamine:Melanie reached Category 4 in the South Indian between October 28, 1996 and November 12, 1996, with a lowest pressure of 925 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Bellamine:Melanie, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1997 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
October 28, 1996 to November 12, 1996
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Lowest pressure
925 mb (27.32 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 721 km (448 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
35.0
Identifier
SH051997

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 28, 00:006.7S 94.8E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 28, 06:007.2S 95.1E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 28, 12:007.6S 95.4E20 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Oct 28, 18:008.0S 95.7E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 00:008.4S 96.0E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 06:008.9S 96.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 12:009.5S 96.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 29, 18:0010.0S 96.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 00:0010.2S 96.2E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 06:0010.3S 96.1E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 12:0010.4S 96.0E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 30, 18:0010.4S 95.8E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 00:0010.3S 95.5E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 06:0010.2S 95.3E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 12:0010.0S 94.9E45 kt997 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 18:009.8S 94.4E45 kt993 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 00:009.5S 93.2E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 06:009.3S 91.8E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 12:009.0S 90.6E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 18:008.8S 89.3E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 00:008.7S 88.7E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 06:008.7S 88.1E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 12:008.9S 87.7E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 18:009.2S 87.4E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 00:009.7S 87.2E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 06:0010.1S 86.7E70 kt955 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 12:0010.3S 86.2E80 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 18:0010.4S 85.7E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 00:0010.4S 85.4E100 kt930 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 06:0010.4S 85.2E100 kt925 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 12:0010.5S 85.0E100 kt925 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 18:0010.5S 84.8E110 kt925 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 00:0010.6S 84.4E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 06:0010.7S 83.9E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 12:0010.9S 83.3E115 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 18:0011.1S 82.7E115 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 00:0011.4S 82.0E105 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 06:0011.5S 81.3E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 12:0011.7S 80.6E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 18:0012.0S 79.6E115 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 00:0012.4S 78.7E125 kt930 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 06:0012.7S 77.9E125 kt925 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 12:0013.3S 77.2E120 kt925 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 18:0014.0S 76.7E120 kt925 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 00:0014.8S 76.6E115 kt930 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 06:0015.4S 76.6E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 12:0016.0S 76.9E110 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 18:0016.7S 77.4E105 kt955 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 00:0017.7S 78.3E100 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 06:0018.6S 79.1E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 12:0019.2S 79.7E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 9, 18:0020.4S 79.9E65 kt984 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 00:0021.4S 79.6E50 kt987 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 06:0021.8S 78.9E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 12:0021.9S 78.4E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 10, 18:0022.1S 77.9E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 00:0022.3S 77.6E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 06:0022.6S 76.5E25 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Nov 11, 12:0022.9S 75.6E25 kt1007 mbMixed
Nov 11, 18:0023.0S 75.1E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Nov 12, 00:0023.1S 74.8E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Nov 12, 06:0023.2S 74.5E15 ktTropical storm
Nov 12, 12:0023.3S 74.2E15 ktTropical storm

Other South Indian storms of 1997

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.