The 2002 season

Cyclone Francesca (2002)

Cyclone Francesca reached Category 4 in the South Indian between January 30, 2002 and February 14, 2002, with a lowest pressure of 927 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Francesca, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2002 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 30, 2002 to February 14, 2002
Peak strength
Category 4, 115 kt (132 mph)
Lowest pressure
927 mb (27.37 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1438 km (894 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
24.8
Identifier
SH122002

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jan 30, 06:0013.0S 92.7ETropical storm
Jan 30, 12:0013.2S 92.2ETropical storm
Jan 30, 18:0012.9S 90.9ETropical storm
Jan 31, 00:0012.3S 89.2E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 06:0012.0S 89.5E27 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 12:0012.2S 89.7E20 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Jan 31, 18:0012.4S 88.7E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Feb 1, 00:0012.7S 87.9E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Feb 1, 06:0013.2S 87.2E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Feb 1, 12:0013.5S 86.1E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Feb 1, 18:0013.8S 85.3E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 2, 00:0014.1S 84.5E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 06:0014.2S 83.1E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 12:0014.2S 81.7E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 18:0014.1S 80.9E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 00:0014.2S 80.2E50 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 06:0014.4S 79.6E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 12:0014.6S 79.1E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Feb 3, 18:0014.8S 78.2E70 kt972 mbTyphoon
Feb 4, 00:0014.9S 77.8E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Feb 4, 06:0014.9S 77.5E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Feb 4, 12:0015.1S 77.7E100 kt944 mbTyphoon
Feb 4, 18:0015.4S 78.0E110 kt933 mbTyphoon
Feb 5, 00:0015.9S 78.4E115 kt927 mbTyphoon
Feb 5, 06:0016.1S 78.7E110 kt933 mbTyphoon
Feb 5, 12:0016.4S 79.1E110 kt933 mbTyphoon
Feb 5, 18:0016.8S 79.4E105 kt938 mbTyphoon
Feb 6, 00:0017.1S 79.7E95 kt949 mbTyphoon
Feb 6, 06:0017.3S 80.0E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Feb 6, 12:0017.5S 80.4E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Feb 6, 18:0017.7S 80.8E85 kt958 mbTyphoon
Feb 7, 00:0017.9S 81.4E85 kt958 mbTyphoon
Feb 7, 06:0018.0S 82.0E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Feb 7, 12:0018.3S 82.5E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Feb 7, 18:0018.7S 83.0E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Feb 8, 00:0019.1S 83.3E95 kt949 mbTyphoon
Feb 8, 06:0019.6S 83.7E95 kt949 mbTyphoon
Feb 8, 12:0019.9S 84.0E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Feb 8, 18:0020.3S 84.4E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Feb 9, 00:0020.8S 84.6E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Feb 9, 06:0021.3S 84.8E85 kt958 mbTyphoon
Feb 9, 12:0021.8S 84.9E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Feb 9, 18:0022.2S 84.9E70 kt972 mbTyphoon
Feb 10, 00:0022.6S 84.9E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Feb 10, 06:0023.0S 85.1E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Feb 10, 12:0023.4S 85.3E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 10, 18:0023.7S 85.4E50 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 11, 00:0024.1S 85.5E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 11, 06:0024.7S 85.7E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Feb 11, 12:0025.6S 86.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 11, 18:0026.4S 86.7E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Feb 12, 00:0028.0S 86.6E50 kt992 mbExtratropical
Feb 12, 06:0028.8S 86.8E55 kt992 mbExtratropical
Feb 12, 12:0029.8S 87.2E60 kt990 mbExtratropical
Feb 12, 18:0031.0S 87.3E55 kt992 mbExtratropical
Feb 13, 00:0032.1S 87.4E45 kt995 mbExtratropical
Feb 13, 06:0032.5S 87.5E40 kt998 mbExtratropical
Feb 13, 12:0032.6S 87.5E35 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Feb 13, 18:0032.9S 86.9E30 kt1003 mbExtratropical
Feb 14, 00:0033.4S 86.3E30 kt1005 mbExtratropical
Feb 14, 06:0033.8S 85.5E1010 mbDisturbance

Other South Indian storms of 2002

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.