The 1998 season

Cyclone Martin (1998)

Cyclone Martin reached Category 3 in the South Pacific between October 28, 1997 and November 8, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 945 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Martin, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1998 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
October 28, 1997 to November 8, 1997
Peak strength
Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
Lowest pressure
945 mb (27.91 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 808 km (502 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
11.4
Fastest the center moved
39 kt (45 mph)
Identifier
SH041998

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 28, 18:007.5S 161.1W25 ktTropical storm
Oct 29, 00:007.7S 161.6W25 ktTropical storm
Oct 29, 06:007.9S 162.2W25 ktTropical storm
Oct 29, 12:008.2S 163.0W30 ktTropical storm
Oct 29, 18:008.4S 163.9W30 ktTropical storm
Oct 30, 00:008.7S 164.5W30 ktTropical storm
Oct 30, 06:008.9S 165.0W30 ktTropical storm
Oct 30, 12:009.0S 165.3W30 ktTropical storm
Oct 30, 18:009.1S 165.3W35 ktTropical storm
Oct 31, 00:009.3S 165.4W40 ktTropical storm
Oct 31, 06:009.7S 165.5W45 ktTropical storm
Oct 31, 12:0010.2S 165.5W50 ktTropical storm
Oct 31, 18:0010.6S 165.3W55 kt987 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 00:0010.9S 164.9W60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 06:0011.1S 164.3W65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 12:0011.1S 163.6W70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 18:0011.0S 162.9W75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 00:0011.1S 162.1W75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 06:0011.3S 161.2W80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 12:0011.9S 160.0W85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 18:0012.8S 158.7W90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 00:0013.9S 157.3W95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 06:0015.1S 155.8W95 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 12:0016.5S 154.2W100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 18:0018.0S 152.5W100 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 00:0019.6S 150.8W90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 06:0021.2S 149.2W75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 12:0022.9S 147.6W50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 18:0024.7S 145.8W30 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 00:0024.1S 144.3W40 kt990 mbNot reported
Nov 5, 06:0025.0S 143.0W35 kt995 mbNot reported
Nov 5, 12:0026.0S 141.3W35 kt995 mbNot reported
Nov 5, 18:0026.0S 137.0W30 kt1000 mbNot reported
Nov 6, 00:0026.5S 134.8W25 kt1002 mbNot reported
Nov 6, 06:0027.0S 133.0W25 kt1005 mbNot reported
Nov 6, 12:0027.6S 131.5W25 kt1006 mbNot reported
Nov 6, 18:0028.5S 128.5W25 kt1007 mbNot reported
Nov 7, 00:0029.5S 126.0W25 kt1009 mbNot reported
Nov 7, 06:0030.0S 122.5W25 kt1010 mbNot reported
Nov 7, 12:0030.7S 119.0WNot reported
Nov 7, 18:0031.1S 115.8WNot reported
Nov 8, 00:0031.5S 112.5WNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1998

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.