The 1998 season

Cyclone Gemma (1998)

Cyclone Gemma reached Category 1 in the South Indian between April 6, 1998 and April 16, 1998, with a lowest pressure of 985 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Gemma, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1998 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
April 6, 1998 to April 16, 1998
Peak strength
Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
Lowest pressure
985 mb (29.09 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1442 km (896 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.1
Identifier
SH321998

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Apr 6, 06:0012.6S 71.0E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 6, 12:0012.9S 71.0E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Apr 6, 18:0013.2S 71.1E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 00:0013.4S 71.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 06:0013.6S 71.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 12:0013.6S 71.6E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 18:0013.6S 71.8E30 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 00:0013.8S 71.9E45 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 06:0014.0S 71.9E45 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 12:0014.2S 71.9E50 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 18:0014.4S 71.9E50 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 00:0014.7S 72.0E55 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 06:0014.9S 72.1E55 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 12:0015.1S 72.4E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 18:0015.3S 72.7E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 00:0015.4S 73.2E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 06:0015.5S 73.8E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 12:0015.5S 74.4E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 18:0015.5S 75.0E70 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 00:0015.3S 75.7E70 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 06:0014.9S 76.5E65 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 12:0014.6S 77.0E65 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 18:0014.6S 77.1E65 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 00:0014.6S 77.2E65 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 06:0014.6S 77.3E60 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 12:0014.6S 77.4E55 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 18:0014.6S 77.5E50 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 00:0014.6S 77.6E45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 06:0014.5S 77.7E45 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 12:0014.4S 77.7E45 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 18:0014.3S 77.4E40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 00:0014.2S 77.1E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 06:0014.2S 76.8E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 12:0014.2S 76.3E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 18:0014.3S 75.8E30 kt1005 mbMixed
Apr 15, 00:0014.3S 75.5E30 ktMixed
Apr 15, 06:0015.5S 74.7EMixed
Apr 15, 12:0016.0S 74.1EMixed
Apr 15, 18:0016.1S 73.8EMixed
Apr 16, 00:0016.2S 73.5EMixed
Apr 16, 06:0016.3S 73.0EMixed
Apr 16, 12:0016.6S 72.3EMixed
Apr 16, 18:0017.2S 71.1EMixed

Other South Indian storms of 1998

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.