Abstract
A detailed analysis of the wind stress patterns over the Indian Ocean was made from 1 May to 31 July 1979. A combination of cloud motion and ship data obtained once per day was used to diagnose the surface-wind patterns to a degree of detail not possible in the past for an individual season. These data show the monsoon development and the fluctuations of the Somali Jet and the Southern Hemispheric tradewinds. Wind stress patterns produced by two traveling tropical storms are discussed. These combined to exert an unusually high westerly wind stress on the equator before the monsoon developed.
