The 1998 season

Cyclone Ursula (1998)

Cyclone Ursula reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between January 29, 1998 and February 5, 1998, with a lowest pressure of 975 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Ursula, 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
January 29, 1998 to February 5, 1998
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
975 mb (28.79 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 2180 km (1355 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.3
Identifier
SH171998

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jan 29, 18:0014.1S 152.0W35 kt999 mbNot reported
Jan 30, 00:0014.2S 151.2W35 kt998 mbNot reported
Jan 30, 06:0015.2S 150.7W35 kt997 mbNot reported
Jan 30, 12:0015.8S 149.6W35 kt995 mbNot reported
Jan 30, 18:0016.1S 147.7W35 kt995 mbNot reported
Jan 31, 00:0016.8S 145.6W40 kt990 mbNot reported
Jan 31, 06:0017.7S 143.5W45 kt987 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 12:0019.8S 141.7W45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 18:0021.5S 140.0W55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 00:0023.9S 136.9W65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 06:0025.5S 134.4W65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 12:0026.6S 131.6W60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 18:0027.5S 128.4W35 kt984 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 00:0028.3S 124.5W25 kt988 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 06:0032.0S 127.0W40 kt990 mbNot reported
Feb 2, 12:0033.0S 124.5W40 kt990 mbNot reported
Feb 2, 18:0034.0S 122.5W35 kt993 mbNot reported
Feb 3, 00:0035.0S 120.0W30 kt997 mbNot reported
Feb 3, 06:0036.0S 118.0WNot reported
Feb 3, 12:0036.7S 116.8WNot reported
Feb 3, 18:0036.9S 115.9WNot reported
Feb 4, 00:0037.1S 114.8WNot reported
Feb 4, 06:0037.4S 113.5WNot reported
Feb 4, 12:0037.6S 112.8WNot reported
Feb 4, 18:0037.7S 112.0WNot reported
Feb 5, 00:0038.0S 110.0WNot 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.