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.























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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 19, 06:00 | 4.9S 170.1E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 19, 12:00 | 4.9S 169.1E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 19, 18:00 | 5.0S 168.1E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 20, 00:00 | 5.2S 167.2E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 20, 06:00 | 5.5S 166.4E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 20, 12:00 | 5.9S 165.7E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 20, 18:00 | 6.6S 165.3E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 21, 00:00 | 7.2S 165.0E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 21, 06:00 | 7.7S 164.5E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 21, 12:00 | 8.3S 163.9E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 21, 18:00 | 9.0S 163.3E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 22, 00:00 | 9.7S 162.6E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 22, 06:00 | 10.5S 161.9E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 22, 12:00 | 11.3S 161.3E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 22, 18:00 | 11.9S 160.9E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 23, 00:00 | 12.4S 160.6E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 23, 06:00 | 12.7S 160.3E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 23, 12:00 | 13.0S 160.0E | 25 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 23, 18:00 | 13.1S 159.7E | 30 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 24, 00:00 | 13.2S 159.4E | 35 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 24, 06:00 | 13.1S 158.9E | 40 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 24, 12:00 | 12.6S 158.5E | 45 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 24, 18:00 | 12.0S 158.4E | 50 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 25, 00:00 | 11.4S 158.7E | 55 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 25, 06:00 | 10.9S 159.2E | 60 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 25, 12:00 | 10.8S 159.8E | 65 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 25, 18:00 | 10.9S 160.2E | 70 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 26, 00:00 | 11.2S 160.6E | 75 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 26, 06:00 | 11.6S 161.1E | 75 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 26, 12:00 | 12.2S 161.7E | 75 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 26, 18:00 | 12.9S 162.7E | 75 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 27, 00:00 | 13.8S 163.8E | 75 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 27, 06:00 | 15.0S 164.7E | 80 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 27, 12:00 | 16.3S 165.8E | 85 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 27, 18:00 | 17.6S 167.0E | 90 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 28, 00:00 | 18.9S 168.1E | 90 kt | 955 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 28, 06:00 | 20.0S 169.4E | 85 kt | 955 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 28, 12:00 | 21.3S 170.5E | 85 kt | 955 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 28, 18:00 | 22.7S 171.7E | 80 kt | 955 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 29, 00:00 | 24.2S 172.8E | 75 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 29, 06:00 | 25.9S 173.9E | 70 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 29, 12:00 | 27.8S 174.9E | 65 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 29, 18:00 | 30.3S 175.7E | 65 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 30, 00:00 | 33.0S 176.0E | 65 kt | 979 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 30, 06:00 | 35.9S 176.5E | 60 kt | 982 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 30, 12:00 | 39.0S 177.2E | 55 kt | 986 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 30, 18:00 | 42.1S 178.0E | 55 kt | 981 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 31, 00:00 | 45.5S 179.5E | 35 kt | 986 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 31, 06:00 | 47.5S 182.5E | 30 kt | 986 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 31, 12:00 | 48.5S 187.0E | 30 kt | 986 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 31, 18:00 | 49.8S 191.2E | Not reported | ||
| Jan 1, 00:00 | 51.0S 196.0E | 30 kt | 982 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 1, 06:00 | 51.8S 202.1E | Not reported | ||
| Jan 1, 12:00 | 52.0S 209.0E | 30 kt | 982 mb | Not reported |
Other South Pacific storms of 1997
- Tropical Storm CyrilSouth Pacific · 1997
- Cyclone PhilSouth Pacific · 1997
- Cyclone RachelSouth Pacific · 1997
- Cyclone DrenaSouth Pacific · 1997
- Cyclone EvanSouth Pacific · 1997
- Cyclone FredaSouth Pacific · 1997
- Tropical Storm GillianSouth Pacific · 1997
- Tropical Storm HaroldSouth Pacific · 1997
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 1997
- Tropical Storm ItaSouth Pacific · 1997
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1997
- Cyclone GavinSouth Pacific · 1997
- Cyclone JustinSouth Pacific · 1997
- Cyclone HinaSouth Pacific · 1997
- Tropical Storm IanSouth Pacific · 1997
- Cyclone JuneSouth Pacific · 1997
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1997
- Cyclone KeliSouth Pacific · 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.