The 1975 season

Cyclone Val (1975)

Cyclone Val peaked at 85 kt in the South Pacific between January 24, 1975 and February 5, 1975, with a lowest pressure of 945 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Val, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1975 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 Pacific
Dates
January 24, 1975 to February 5, 1975
Peak strength
Cyclone, 85 kt (98 mph), ten-minute wind
Lowest pressure
945 mb (27.91 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.6
Identifier
SH161975

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jan 24, 00:0018.7S 178.4ETropical storm
Jan 24, 06:0018.3S 178.8ETropical storm
Jan 24, 12:0017.9S 179.0ETropical storm
Jan 24, 18:0017.6S 178.9ETropical storm
Jan 25, 00:0017.2S 178.7ETropical storm
Jan 25, 06:0016.3S 178.9ETropical storm
Jan 25, 12:0015.3S 179.2ETropical storm
Jan 25, 18:0014.9S 179.9ETropical storm
Jan 26, 00:0014.6S 179.0WTropical storm
Jan 26, 06:0014.3S 176.1WTropical storm
Jan 26, 12:0014.0S 173.5WTropical storm
Jan 26, 18:0013.5S 176.0WTropical storm
Jan 27, 00:0013.0S 178.7WTropical storm
Jan 27, 06:0012.7S 178.4WTropical storm
Jan 27, 12:0012.5S 178.0WTropical storm
Jan 27, 18:0012.6S 177.5WTropical storm
Jan 28, 00:0013.0S 177.0WTropical storm
Jan 28, 06:0013.6S 176.5WTropical storm
Jan 28, 12:0014.2S 176.0WTropical storm
Jan 28, 18:0014.1S 176.3WTropical storm
Jan 29, 00:0013.9S 177.0W55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 29, 06:0014.5S 176.9WTropical storm
Jan 29, 12:0015.0S 176.9W65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 29, 18:0015.2S 177.2WTropical storm
Jan 30, 00:0015.5S 177.6W80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 30, 06:0015.7S 177.9WTropical storm
Jan 30, 12:0016.0S 178.1W80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 30, 18:0016.5S 178.8WTropical storm
Jan 31, 00:0017.0S 179.5W75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 06:0017.5S 179.0WTropical storm
Jan 31, 12:0018.0S 178.4W75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 18:0018.5S 178.5WTropical storm
Feb 1, 00:0019.1S 178.9W70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 06:0019.6S 179.4WTropical storm
Feb 1, 12:0020.0S 180.0E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 18:0020.2S 179.4ETropical storm
Feb 2, 00:0020.3S 178.6E85 kt945 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 06:0020.7S 177.3ETropical storm
Feb 2, 12:0021.3S 175.9E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 18:0022.0S 174.7ETropical storm
Feb 3, 00:0022.8S 173.6E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 06:0023.6S 173.0ETropical storm
Feb 3, 12:0024.4S 172.8E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 18:0025.3S 172.9ETropical storm
Feb 4, 00:0026.4S 173.7E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Feb 4, 06:0027.9S 175.4ETropical storm
Feb 4, 12:0029.8S 177.2E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Feb 4, 18:0031.9S 179.1ETropical storm
Feb 5, 00:0034.0S 178.9W80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Feb 5, 06:0036.1S 176.3WTropical storm
Feb 5, 12:0038.3S 173.2W65 kt970 mbMixed

Other South Pacific storms of 1975

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. This storm’s winds are ten-minute averages from its regional agency. They read about 12 percent lower than the one-minute winds US agencies use, so a Saffir-Simpson category is not given for it.

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.