The 2009 season

Cyclone Gael (2009)

Cyclone Gael reached Category 4 in the South Indian between January 31, 2009 and February 12, 2009, with a lowest pressure of 933 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Gael, 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.

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The storm

Basin
South Indian
Dates
January 31, 2009 to February 12, 2009
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
933 mb (27.55 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 213 km (132 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
19.3
Identifier
SH132009

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jan 31, 18:0014.7S 70.6E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Feb 1, 00:0014.9S 70.1E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Feb 1, 06:0014.7S 70.1E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Feb 1, 12:0015.1S 70.4E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Feb 1, 18:0015.2S 69.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Feb 2, 00:0014.9S 68.6E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Feb 2, 06:0015.6S 68.1E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Feb 2, 12:0016.0S 67.3E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Feb 2, 18:0016.0S 66.4E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 00:0016.2S 65.6E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 06:0017.3S 64.9E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 12:0017.5S 63.6E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 18:0017.6S 62.7E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 4, 00:0017.7S 61.9E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 4, 06:0017.8S 61.1E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Feb 4, 12:0017.8S 60.2E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Feb 4, 18:0018.0S 59.4E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 5, 00:0018.1S 58.5E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 5, 06:0018.2S 57.3E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 5, 12:0018.3S 56.1E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Feb 5, 18:0018.4S 55.1E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Feb 6, 00:0018.5S 54.2E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Feb 6, 06:0018.5S 53.3E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Feb 6, 12:0018.7S 52.6E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Feb 6, 18:0019.2S 52.3E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Feb 7, 00:0019.6S 51.8E120 kt933 mbTyphoon
Feb 7, 06:0020.0S 51.7E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Feb 7, 12:0020.6S 51.9E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Feb 7, 18:0021.2S 52.1E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Feb 8, 00:0021.9S 52.5E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Feb 8, 06:0022.9S 53.0E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Feb 8, 12:0024.2S 53.3E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Feb 8, 18:0025.5S 54.0E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Feb 9, 00:0026.9S 55.1E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Feb 9, 06:0028.2S 56.4E95 kt952 mbTyphoon
Feb 9, 12:0029.8S 58.0E85 kt959 mbTyphoon
Feb 9, 18:0030.9S 59.4E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Feb 10, 00:0031.5S 60.5E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Feb 10, 06:0031.9S 61.6E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Feb 10, 12:0032.3S 62.8E40 kt993 mbExtratropical
Feb 10, 18:0032.0S 64.1E40 kt993 mbExtratropical
Feb 11, 00:0032.2S 65.1E30 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Feb 11, 06:0032.8S 65.8E45 kt993 mbExtratropical
Feb 11, 12:0033.6S 66.7E37 kt996 mbExtratropical
Feb 11, 18:0034.5S 67.4E33 kt998 mbExtratropical
Feb 12, 00:0035.5S 68.1E30 kt999 mbExtratropical
Feb 12, 06:0036.5S 68.9E27 kt1000 mbDisturbance
Feb 12, 12:0037.6S 70.4E25 kt1002 mbDisturbance

Other South 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.