The 1997 season

Cyclone Fergus (1997)

Cyclone Fergus reached Category 2 in the South Pacific between December 19, 1996 and January 1, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Cyclone Fergus. 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
December 19, 1996 to January 1, 1997
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
13.6
Fastest the center moved
43 kt (49 mph)
Identifier
SH131997

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Dec 19, 06:004.9S 170.1E15 ktTropical storm
Dec 19, 12:004.9S 169.1E15 ktTropical storm
Dec 19, 18:005.0S 168.1E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 20, 00:005.2S 167.2E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 20, 06:005.5S 166.4E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 20, 12:005.9S 165.7E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 20, 18:006.6S 165.3E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 21, 00:007.2S 165.0E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 21, 06:007.7S 164.5E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 21, 12:008.3S 163.9E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 21, 18:009.0S 163.3E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 22, 00:009.7S 162.6E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 22, 06:0010.5S 161.9E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 22, 12:0011.3S 161.3E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 22, 18:0011.9S 160.9E20 ktTropical storm
Dec 23, 00:0012.4S 160.6E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 06:0012.7S 160.3E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 12:0013.0S 160.0E25 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 18:0013.1S 159.7E30 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 00:0013.2S 159.4E35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 06:0013.1S 158.9E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 12:0012.6S 158.5E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 24, 18:0012.0S 158.4E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 25, 00:0011.4S 158.7E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 25, 06:0010.9S 159.2E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 25, 12:0010.8S 159.8E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 25, 18:0010.9S 160.2E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 26, 00:0011.2S 160.6E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 26, 06:0011.6S 161.1E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 26, 12:0012.2S 161.7E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 26, 18:0012.9S 162.7E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 27, 00:0013.8S 163.8E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 27, 06:0015.0S 164.7E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 27, 12:0016.3S 165.8E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 27, 18:0017.6S 167.0E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 00:0018.9S 168.1E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 06:0020.0S 169.4E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 12:0021.3S 170.5E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 18:0022.7S 171.7E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 00:0024.2S 172.8E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 06:0025.9S 173.9E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 12:0027.8S 174.9E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 18:0030.3S 175.7E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 30, 00:0033.0S 176.0E65 kt979 mbTropical storm
Dec 30, 06:0035.9S 176.5E60 kt982 mbTropical storm
Dec 30, 12:0039.0S 177.2E55 kt986 mbTropical storm
Dec 30, 18:0042.1S 178.0E55 kt981 mbTropical storm
Dec 31, 00:0045.5S 179.5E35 kt986 mbNot reported
Dec 31, 06:0047.5S 182.5E30 kt986 mbNot reported
Dec 31, 12:0048.5S 187.0E30 kt986 mbNot reported
Dec 31, 18:0049.8S 191.2ENot reported
Jan 1, 00:0051.0S 196.0E30 kt982 mbNot reported
Jan 1, 06:0051.8S 202.1ENot reported
Jan 1, 12:0052.0S 209.0E30 kt982 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1997

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.