The 1994 season

Cyclone Thomas:Tomas (1994)

Cyclone Thomas:Tomas reached Category 3 in the South Pacific between March 19, 1994 and March 27, 1994, with a lowest pressure of 987 mb.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Cyclone Thomas:Tomas. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
March 19, 1994 to March 27, 1994
Peak strength
Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)
Lowest pressure
987 mb (29.15 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 309 km (192 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
9.4
Identifier
SH241994

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 19, 00:006.4S 175.6W15 ktTropical storm
Mar 19, 06:006.9S 176.0W15 ktTropical storm
Mar 19, 12:007.3S 176.5W20 ktTropical storm
Mar 19, 18:007.6S 177.0W20 ktTropical storm
Mar 20, 00:007.8S 177.7W20 ktTropical storm
Mar 20, 06:007.9S 178.5W25 ktTropical storm
Mar 20, 12:007.8S 179.5W25 ktTropical storm
Mar 20, 18:007.5S 179.2E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 21, 00:007.5S 178.1E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 21, 06:008.2S 177.0E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 21, 12:009.4S 175.7E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 21, 18:0010.7S 174.1E30 ktTropical storm
Mar 22, 00:0011.7S 172.4E30 ktTropical storm
Mar 22, 06:0012.0S 171.7E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 22, 12:0012.4S 171.2E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 22, 18:0013.1S 170.8E35 ktTropical storm
Mar 23, 00:0014.0S 170.6E50 ktTropical storm
Mar 23, 06:0014.3S 170.6E50 ktTropical storm
Mar 23, 12:0014.7S 170.6E55 ktTropical storm
Mar 23, 18:0015.4S 170.7E65 ktTropical storm
Mar 24, 00:0016.5S 171.2E75 ktTropical storm
Mar 24, 06:0017.4S 171.5E85 ktTropical storm
Mar 24, 12:0018.4S 172.2E95 ktTropical storm
Mar 24, 18:0019.4S 173.0E100 ktTropical storm
Mar 25, 00:0020.5S 174.0E105 ktTropical storm
Mar 25, 06:0021.8S 175.4E105 ktTropical storm
Mar 25, 12:0023.1S 177.6E95 ktTropical storm
Mar 25, 18:0023.9S 179.8E75 ktTropical storm
Mar 26, 00:0024.2S 178.0W65 ktTropical storm
Mar 26, 06:0024.3S 175.9W50 ktTropical storm
Mar 26, 12:0024.9S 187.2ETropical storm
Mar 26, 18:0025.4S 189.5E45 kt987 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 00:0026.0S 194.0E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 06:0026.0S 197.5E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm

Other South Pacific storms of 1994

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.