The 2009 season

Cyclone Aila (2009)

Cyclone Aila reached Category 1 in the North Indian between May 22, 2009 and May 26, 2009, with a lowest pressure of 974 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Aila, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2009 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
North Indian
Dates
May 22, 2009 to May 26, 2009
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
974 mb (28.76 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
1.9
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
80 nmi (148 km, 92 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
30 nmi (56 km, 35 mi)
Overall size
175 nmi (324 km, 201 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
21 kt (24 mph)
Identifier
IO022009

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
May 22, 18:0016.9N 88.8E25 kt1004 mbDisturbance
May 23, 00:0016.7N 88.8E25 kt1004 mbDisturbance
May 23, 06:0017.0N 89.0E30 kt998 mbTropical depression
May 23, 12:0017.2N 88.8E30 kt998 mbTropical depression
May 23, 18:0017.5N 88.7E30 kt996 mbTropical depression
May 24, 00:0017.7N 88.5E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
May 24, 06:0018.0N 88.3E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 24, 12:0018.5N 88.1E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
May 24, 18:0019.1N 88.1E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
May 25, 00:0020.0N 88.1E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
May 25, 06:0021.6N 88.3E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
May 25, 12:0022.9N 88.4E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
May 25, 18:0024.2N 88.5E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
May 26, 00:0025.7N 88.7E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
May 26, 06:0026.8N 89.0E15 kt1010 mbDisturbance

Other North Indian storms of 2009

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.