The 2003 season

Cyclone Crystal (2003)

Cyclone Crystal reached Category 2 in the South Indian between December 21, 2002 and January 3, 2003, with a lowest pressure of 954 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Crystal, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2003 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
December 21, 2002 to January 3, 2003
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
954 mb (28.17 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 177 km (110 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
11.5
Identifier
SH052003

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Dec 21, 18:006.8S 69.5E20 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 00:007.2S 69.1E20 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 06:007.9S 69.1E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Dec 22, 12:008.4S 68.9E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Dec 22, 18:009.0S 68.6E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Dec 23, 00:009.6S 67.9E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Dec 23, 06:0010.3S 67.2E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Dec 23, 12:0011.0S 66.5E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 18:0011.7S 65.8E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 00:0012.3S 65.0E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 06:0012.8S 64.1E50 kt987 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 12:0013.5S 63.4E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 18:0014.1S 62.7E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Dec 25, 00:0014.5S 62.2E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Dec 25, 06:0015.0S 61.7E70 kt972 mbTyphoon
Dec 25, 12:0015.6S 61.2E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Dec 25, 18:0016.3S 60.7E70 kt972 mbTyphoon
Dec 26, 00:0016.9S 60.2E70 kt972 mbTyphoon
Dec 26, 06:0017.7S 59.9E70 kt972 mbTyphoon
Dec 26, 12:0018.4S 59.7E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Dec 26, 18:0019.1S 59.5E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Dec 27, 00:0019.9S 59.5E90 kt958 mbTyphoon
Dec 27, 06:0020.7S 59.6E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Dec 27, 12:0021.5S 59.9E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Dec 27, 18:0022.3S 60.3E85 kt958 mbTyphoon
Dec 28, 00:0023.2S 60.6E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Dec 28, 06:0024.1S 60.7E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Dec 28, 12:0025.0S 61.1E70 kt972 mbTyphoon
Dec 28, 18:0025.8S 62.0E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 00:0026.6S 62.9E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 06:0027.3S 63.5E45 kt987 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 12:0027.7S 64.7E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 18:0028.2S 66.3E40 kt992 mbExtratropical
Dec 30, 00:0029.0S 68.0E40 kt995 mbExtratropical
Dec 30, 06:0029.8S 69.7E40 kt997 mbExtratropical
Dec 30, 12:0030.7S 71.8E35 kt999 mbExtratropical
Dec 30, 18:0031.3S 73.2E35 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Dec 31, 00:0031.6S 74.1E30 kt1002 mbExtratropical
Dec 31, 06:0031.6S 75.6E30 kt1004 mbExtratropical
Dec 31, 12:0031.6S 77.1E28 kt1005 mbExtratropical
Dec 31, 18:0031.9S 78.6E25 kt1007 mbExtratropical
Jan 1, 00:0032.3S 79.6E25 kt1008 mbExtratropical
Jan 1, 06:0033.3S 81.0E28 kt1008 mbExtratropical
Jan 1, 12:0034.3S 82.5E30 kt1008 mbExtratropical
Jan 1, 18:0034.9S 83.6E28 kt1010 mbExtratropical
Jan 2, 00:0035.3S 84.4E25 kt1010 mbExtratropical
Jan 2, 06:0035.4S 85.9E25 kt1010 mbExtratropical
Jan 2, 12:0035.8S 87.9E25 kt1010 mbExtratropical
Jan 2, 18:0035.9S 89.3E25 kt1012 mbDisturbance
Jan 3, 00:0036.0S 90.9EDisturbance

Other South Indian storms of 2003

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.