Cyclone Rachel (1997)
Cyclone Rachel reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between December 30, 1996 and January 11, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb, and made landfall.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Cyclone Rachel. 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 30, 1996 to January 11, 1997
- Peak strength
- Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 965 mb (28.50 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 7.2
- Identifier
- SH151997
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 30, 00:00 | 14.9S 137.1E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 30, 06:00 | 14.7S 136.5E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 30, 12:00 | 14.5S 135.9E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 30, 18:00 | 14.3S 135.4E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 31, 00:00 | 14.0S 135.0E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 31, 06:00 | 13.6S 134.6E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 31, 12:00 | 13.2S 134.1E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 31, 18:00 | 12.8S 133.7E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 1, 00:00 | 12.5S 133.3E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 1, 06:00 | 12.2S 133.0E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 1, 12:00 | 11.9S 132.7E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 1, 18:00 | 11.6S 132.3E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 2, 00:00 | 11.3S 131.9E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 2, 06:00 | 11.1S 131.4E | 30 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 2, 12:00 | 11.0S 130.9E | 30 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 2, 18:00 | 11.2S 130.2E | 35 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 3, 00:00 | 11.7S 129.5E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 3, 06:00 | 12.2S 128.7E | 45 kt | 988 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 3, 12:00 | 12.8S 128.0E | 50 kt | 986 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 3, 18:00 | 13.3S 127.2E | 55 kt | 982 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 4, 00:00 | 13.8S 126.3E | 55 kt | 988 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 4, 06:00 | 14.3S 125.4E | 50 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 4, 12:00 | 15.0S 124.7E | 45 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 4, 18:00 | 15.6S 124.0E | 45 kt | 993 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 5, 00:00 | 16.1S 123.2E | 50 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 5, 06:00 | 16.4S 122.4E | 55 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 5, 12:00 | 17.0S 121.8E | 55 kt | 988 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 5, 18:00 | 17.4S 121.3E | 55 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 6, 00:00 | 17.8S 120.8E | 55 kt | 976 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 6, 06:00 | 18.1S 120.3E | 60 kt | 966 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 6, 12:00 | 18.4S 119.8E | 70 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 6, 18:00 | 18.9S 119.2E | 80 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 7, 00:00 | 19.4S 118.7E | 80 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 7, 06:00 | 20.1S 118.6E | 75 kt | 968 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 7, 12:00 | 20.8S 118.5E | 65 kt | 977 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 7, 18:00 | 21.7S 118.5E | 55 kt | 983 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 8, 00:00 | 22.6S 118.4E | 45 kt | 989 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 8, 06:00 | 23.5S 118.6E | 35 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 8, 12:00 | 24.2S 118.9E | 30 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 8, 18:00 | 24.8S 119.4E | 30 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 9, 00:00 | 25.5S 119.8E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 9, 06:00 | 26.0S 120.3E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 9, 12:00 | 26.5S 120.9E | 30 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 9, 18:00 | 27.2S 121.4E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 10, 00:00 | 27.8S 121.9E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 10, 06:00 | 28.3S 122.3E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 10, 12:00 | 28.7S 122.9E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 10, 18:00 | 29.1S 123.5E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 11, 00:00 | 29.3S 124.2E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 11, 06:00 | 29.5S 124.9E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 11, 12:00 | 29.6S 125.6E | 15 kt | Tropical storm |
Other South Pacific storms of 1997
- Tropical Storm CyrilSouth Pacific · 1997
- Cyclone FergusSouth Pacific · 1997
- Cyclone PhilSouth 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.