The 1977 season

Tropical Storm Norman (1977)

Tropical Storm Norman peaked at 40 kt in the South Pacific between March 9, 1977 and March 24, 1977, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Norman, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1977 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
March 9, 1977 to March 24, 1977
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 40 kt (46 mph)
Lowest pressure
980 mb (28.94 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.7
Identifier
SH211977

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
Mar 9, 00:0011.0S 168.0E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 9, 06:0011.2S 167.1E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 9, 12:0011.5S 166.5E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Mar 9, 18:0011.7S 166.2E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 10, 00:0012.2S 165.8E35 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 10, 06:0013.1S 165.5E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 10, 12:0014.0S 165.1E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 10, 18:0014.9S 165.0E40 ktTropical storm
Mar 11, 00:0015.7S 165.0E40 kt997 mbTropical storm
Mar 11, 06:0016.4S 164.6E40 ktTropical storm
Mar 11, 12:0017.0S 164.0E40 kt997 mbTropical storm
Mar 11, 18:0017.4S 163.0E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 12, 00:0017.5S 162.0E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Mar 12, 06:0017.3S 161.6ETropical storm
Mar 12, 12:0017.0S 161.6E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Mar 12, 18:0016.6S 161.7ETropical storm
Mar 13, 00:0016.0S 162.0E30 kt997 mbMixed
Mar 13, 06:0016.0S 164.9ENot reported
Mar 13, 12:0016.0S 165.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Mar 13, 18:0016.0S 165.0ENot reported
Mar 14, 00:0016.0S 165.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Mar 14, 06:0016.0S 165.5ENot reported
Mar 14, 12:0016.0S 166.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Mar 14, 18:0016.2S 165.7ENot reported
Mar 15, 00:0016.5S 165.5E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 15, 06:0017.0S 166.1ENot reported
Mar 15, 12:0017.5S 167.0E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 15, 18:0018.0S 167.4ENot reported
Mar 16, 00:0018.5S 168.0E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 16, 06:0019.0S 169.2ENot reported
Mar 16, 12:0019.5S 170.5E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 16, 18:0020.0S 171.2ENot reported
Mar 17, 00:0020.5S 171.5E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 17, 06:0021.0S 171.8ENot reported
Mar 17, 12:0021.5S 172.0E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 17, 18:0022.0S 172.0ENot reported
Mar 18, 00:0022.5S 172.0E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 18, 06:0023.2S 172.0ENot reported
Mar 18, 12:0024.0S 172.0E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 18, 18:0024.8S 171.8ENot reported
Mar 19, 00:0025.5S 171.5E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 19, 06:0026.0S 171.5ENot reported
Mar 19, 12:0026.5S 171.5E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 19, 18:0027.0S 171.5ENot reported
Mar 20, 00:0027.5S 171.5E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 20, 06:0028.0S 171.5ENot reported
Mar 20, 12:0028.5S 171.5E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 20, 18:0029.2S 171.7ENot reported
Mar 21, 00:0030.0S 172.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Mar 21, 06:0030.7S 172.0ENot reported
Mar 21, 12:0031.5S 172.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Mar 21, 18:0032.3S 172.5ENot reported
Mar 22, 00:0033.0S 173.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Mar 22, 06:0033.8S 172.9ENot reported
Mar 22, 12:0034.5S 172.5E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Mar 22, 18:0034.7S 171.5ENot reported
Mar 23, 00:0035.0S 171.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Mar 23, 06:0036.0S 171.9ENot reported
Mar 23, 12:0037.0S 173.5E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Mar 23, 18:0037.5S 175.0ENot reported
Mar 24, 00:0038.0S 177.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Mar 24, 06:0038.9S 179.7ENot reported
Mar 24, 12:0040.0S 183.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1977

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.