The 1977 season

Cyclone Robert (1977)

Cyclone Robert reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between April 16, 1977 and April 23, 1977, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Robert, 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
April 16, 1977 to April 23, 1977
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1551 km (964 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.9
Identifier
SH241977

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
Apr 16, 00:0012.0S 158.0W25 ktTropical storm
Apr 16, 06:0011.9S 156.6W30 ktTropical storm
Apr 16, 12:0012.0S 155.7W35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 18:0012.2S 155.2W35 ktTropical storm
Apr 17, 00:0012.5S 155.0W35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 17, 06:0012.7S 155.0W35 ktTropical storm
Apr 17, 12:0013.0S 155.2W35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 17, 18:0013.2S 155.6W35 ktTropical storm
Apr 18, 00:0013.5S 156.0W40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 06:0014.0S 156.5W40 ktTropical storm
Apr 18, 12:0014.5S 157.0W40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 18:0014.7S 157.4W40 ktTropical storm
Apr 19, 00:0015.0S 157.5W40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 06:0015.5S 157.3W40 ktTropical storm
Apr 19, 12:0016.0S 157.0W45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 18:0016.5S 156.8W45 ktTropical storm
Apr 20, 00:0017.0S 156.5W50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 06:0017.7S 155.9W55 ktTropical storm
Apr 20, 12:0018.5S 154.9W65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 18:0019.3S 153.6W75 ktTropical storm
Apr 21, 00:0020.2S 152.0W80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 06:0021.2S 150.2W75 ktTropical storm
Apr 21, 12:0022.0S 148.0W70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 18:0022.5S 145.2W65 ktTropical storm
Apr 22, 00:0023.0S 142.5W60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 06:0023.5S 140.2W50 ktTropical storm
Apr 22, 12:0024.0S 138.0W40 ktTropical storm
Apr 22, 18:0024.9S 135.9W40 ktTropical storm
Apr 23, 00:0026.0S 134.0W35 ktTropical storm
Apr 23, 06:0026.6S 132.7W35 ktTropical storm
Apr 23, 12:0027.0S 132.0W30 ktTropical storm

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.