The 1991 season

Cyclone Joy (1991)

Cyclone Joy reached Category 2 in the South Pacific between December 15, 1990 and December 27, 1990, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall. It killed 6 people, as Wikidata records it.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Joy, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1991 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
December 15, 1990 to December 27, 1990
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
12.3
Fastest the center moved
15 kt (17 mph)
Identifier
SH061991

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

Wikidata

6 deathsno damage figure

A community-maintained total, usually direct and indirect deaths together and damage worldwide. Joined to this storm by its IBTrACS serial, not by name.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Dec 15, 18:0010.5S 164.7E20 ktNot reported
Dec 16, 00:0010.7S 163.7E25 ktNot reported
Dec 16, 06:0011.2S 162.5E25 ktNot reported
Dec 16, 12:0011.1S 161.4E25 ktNot reported
Dec 16, 18:0011.1S 160.7E25 ktNot reported
Dec 17, 00:0011.2S 160.1E25 kt1001 mbNot reported
Dec 17, 06:0011.4S 159.4E30 kt998 mbNot reported
Dec 17, 12:0011.6S 158.7E30 ktNot reported
Dec 17, 18:0011.9S 158.1E25 ktNot reported
Dec 18, 00:0012.2S 157.5E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 06:0012.6S 156.8E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 12:0012.8S 156.0E30 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 18:0012.8S 154.9E30 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 00:0012.7S 153.8E30 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 06:0012.5S 152.7E30 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 12:0012.4S 151.9E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 18:0012.3S 151.3E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 00:0012.2S 150.8E45 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 06:0012.2S 150.2E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 12:0012.5S 149.8E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 18:0012.9S 149.4E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 00:0013.4S 149.0E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 06:0013.8S 148.5E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 12:0014.2S 148.0E55 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 18:0014.6S 147.7E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 00:0015.0S 147.4E65 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 06:0015.3S 147.2E70 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 12:0015.6S 147.0E75 kt950 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 18:0015.8S 146.8E85 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 00:0016.0S 146.6E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 06:0016.1S 146.6E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 12:0016.2S 146.6E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 18:0016.3S 146.7E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 00:0016.4S 146.8E85 kt950 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 06:0016.6S 146.9E80 kt950 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 12:0016.7S 147.1E75 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 18:0016.9S 147.3E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 25, 00:0017.0S 147.5E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 25, 06:0017.2S 147.7E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 25, 12:0017.4S 148.0E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 25, 18:0017.7S 148.0E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 26, 00:0018.3S 147.9E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 26, 06:0018.8S 147.5E45 kt983 mbTropical storm
Dec 26, 12:0019.1S 146.9E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 26, 18:0019.5S 146.5E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Dec 27, 00:0020.2S 146.3E30 ktTropical storm
Dec 27, 06:0021.0S 146.2E25 ktNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1991

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.