Cyclone Ambali (2020)

Cyclone Ambali reached Category 5 in the South Indian between December 3, 2019 and December 9, 2019, with a lowest pressure of 918 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Ambali, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2020 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 3, 2019 to December 9, 2019
Peak strength: Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
Lowest pressure: 918 mb (27.11 inHg)
Landfall: No; closest approach 701 km (436 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy: 8.8
Identifier: SH032020

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)	Position	Wind	Pressure	Status
Dec 3, 06:00	4.1S 65.3E	15 kt	1009 mb	Disturbance
Dec 3, 12:00	4.3S 65.1E	20 kt	1005 mb	Disturbance
Dec 3, 18:00	4.6S 65.0E	25 kt	1002 mb	Tropical depression
Dec 4, 00:00	5.2S 64.8E	25 kt	1003 mb	Tropical depression
Dec 4, 06:00	5.8S 64.7E	30 kt	1003 mb	Tropical depression
Dec 4, 12:00	6.6S 64.6E	30 kt	1004 mb	Tropical depression
Dec 4, 18:00	7.3S 64.2E	35 kt	1006 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 5, 00:00	8.1S 63.8E	40 kt	1004 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 5, 06:00	8.7S 63.2E	55 kt	994 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 5, 12:00	9.3S 62.7E	70 kt	986 mb	Typhoon
Dec 5, 18:00	10.0S 62.4E	120 kt	947 mb	Typhoon
Dec 6, 00:00	10.4S 62.2E	140 kt	918 mb	Super typhoon
Dec 6, 06:00	10.9S 62.2E	120 kt	944 mb	Typhoon
Dec 6, 12:00	11.3S 62.2E	100 kt	962 mb	Typhoon
Dec 6, 18:00	11.5S 62.6E	85 kt	976 mb	Typhoon
Dec 7, 00:00	12.0S 63.0E	75 kt	983 mb	Typhoon
Dec 7, 06:00	12.3S 63.1E	60 kt	992 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 7, 12:00	13.0S 63.1E	45 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 7, 18:00	13.6S 62.7E	25 kt	1009 mb	Tropical depression
Dec 8, 00:00	12.9S 60.9E	25 kt	1006 mb	Disturbance
Dec 8, 06:00	12.9S 60.5E	20 kt	1008 mb	Disturbance
Dec 8, 12:00	12.9S 60.3E	20 kt	1008 mb	Disturbance
Dec 8, 18:00	13.2S 60.2E	15 kt	1009 mb	Disturbance
Dec 9, 00:00	13.6S 59.9E	15 kt	1010 mb	Disturbance
Dec 9, 06:00	14.1S 59.6E	15 kt	1010 mb	Disturbance

Other South Indian storms of 2020

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.