The 1997 season

Cyclone Gavin (1997)

Cyclone Gavin reached Category 4 in the South Pacific between March 2, 1997 and March 14, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 925 mb.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Cyclone Gavin. 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 2, 1997 to March 14, 1997
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
925 mb (27.32 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 38 km (24 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
29.4
Fastest the center moved
28 kt (32 mph)
Identifier
SH311997

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Mar 2, 00:008.3S 171.4E15 ktTropical storm
Mar 2, 06:008.5S 171.4E20 ktTropical storm
Mar 2, 12:008.7S 171.5E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 2, 18:008.9S 171.7E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Mar 3, 00:009.1S 172.0E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Mar 3, 06:009.3S 172.4E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Mar 3, 12:009.5S 172.8E35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Mar 3, 18:009.6S 173.2E40 kt997 mbTropical storm
Mar 4, 00:009.7S 173.6E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Mar 4, 06:009.7S 174.1E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 4, 12:009.7S 174.9E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 4, 18:009.7S 175.7E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 5, 00:009.8S 176.7E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Mar 5, 06:0010.1S 177.7E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Mar 5, 12:0010.6S 178.6E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Mar 5, 18:0011.4S 179.2E115 kt940 mbTropical storm
Mar 6, 00:0012.3S 179.6E115 kt930 mbTropical storm
Mar 6, 06:0013.4S 179.5E115 kt925 mbTropical storm
Mar 6, 12:0014.4S 179.1E115 kt925 mbTropical storm
Mar 6, 18:0015.5S 178.7E115 kt930 mbTropical storm
Mar 7, 00:0016.5S 178.1E110 kt935 mbTropical storm
Mar 7, 06:0017.4S 177.2E105 kt935 mbTropical storm
Mar 7, 12:0018.0S 176.3E105 kt935 mbTropical storm
Mar 7, 18:0018.5S 175.8E100 kt930 mbTropical storm
Mar 8, 00:0019.0S 175.6E100 kt930 mbTropical storm
Mar 8, 06:0019.5S 175.6E100 kt930 mbTropical storm
Mar 8, 12:0020.1S 176.0E115 kt925 mbTropical storm
Mar 8, 18:0021.0S 176.7E120 kt925 mbTropical storm
Mar 9, 00:0022.3S 176.9E115 kt925 mbTropical storm
Mar 9, 06:0023.6S 177.0E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Mar 9, 12:0024.9S 177.0E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
Mar 9, 18:0026.2S 176.8E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Mar 10, 00:0027.5S 176.6E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Mar 10, 06:0028.7S 176.5E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Mar 10, 12:0029.9S 176.5E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Mar 10, 18:0031.1S 176.5E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Mar 11, 00:0032.3S 176.5E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Mar 11, 06:0033.3S 176.5E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 11, 12:0034.0S 177.0E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 11, 18:0034.2S 177.9E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 12, 00:0034.4S 179.0E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 12, 06:0034.5S 179.8W45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 12, 12:0035.1S 178.7W40 kt991 mbTropical storm
Mar 12, 18:0036.0S 177.7W35 kt993 mbTropical storm
Mar 13, 00:0037.0S 176.7W30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 13, 06:0038.0S 184.0E30 kt998 mbNot reported
Mar 13, 12:0039.6S 185.3E30 kt996 mbNot reported
Mar 13, 18:0041.8S 187.0E30 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 14, 00:0043.3S 188.3E30 kt986 mbNot reported
Mar 14, 06:0045.5S 190.5E30 kt986 mbNot reported
Mar 14, 12:0048.0S 192.0E30 kt986 mbNot reported
Mar 14, 18:0050.0S 194.5E30 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.