The 2002 season

Typhoon Sinlaku (2002)

Typhoon Sinlaku reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between August 27, 2002 and September 9, 2002, with a lowest pressure of 933 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Typhoon Sinlaku. 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
Western Pacific
Dates
August 27, 2002 to September 9, 2002
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
933 mb (27.55 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
29.1
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
200 nmi (370 km, 230 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi)
Overall size
175 nmi (324 km, 201 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
17 kt (20 mph)
Identifier
WP222002

Radar at RODN as it neared land, Sep 4, 18:00 UTC

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 27, 12:0016.4N 154.7E1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0016.8N 154.6E1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0016.1N 153.8E1008 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 06:0016.4N 155.7E20 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Aug 28, 12:0016.7N 155.3E20 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Aug 28, 18:0017.2N 155.1E25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Aug 29, 00:0017.7N 155.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Aug 29, 06:0018.3N 155.0E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 12:0018.9N 154.8E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 18:0019.6N 154.4E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 00:0020.4N 154.0E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 06:0021.5N 153.4E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 12:0022.5N 152.6E70 kt972 mbTyphoon
Aug 30, 18:0023.0N 151.6E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Aug 31, 00:0023.4N 150.8E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Aug 31, 06:0023.7N 149.7E110 kt933 mbTyphoon
Aug 31, 12:0023.8N 148.7E110 kt933 mbTyphoon
Aug 31, 18:0023.8N 147.8E105 kt938 mbTyphoon
Sep 1, 00:0023.8N 146.7E105 kt938 mbTyphoon
Sep 1, 06:0024.0N 145.6E110 kt933 mbTyphoon
Sep 1, 12:0024.1N 144.3E110 kt933 mbTyphoon
Sep 1, 18:0024.2N 143.1E105 kt938 mbTyphoon
Sep 2, 00:0024.3N 141.8E100 kt944 mbTyphoon
Sep 2, 06:0024.4N 140.4E95 kt949 mbTyphoon
Sep 2, 12:0024.3N 139.1E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 2, 18:0024.5N 137.8E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 3, 00:0024.8N 136.3E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 3, 06:0025.1N 134.8E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 3, 12:0025.5N 133.4E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 3, 18:0025.6N 132.1E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 4, 00:0025.8N 130.8E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 4, 06:0026.0N 129.6E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 4, 12:0026.2N 128.5E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 4, 18:0026.4N 127.5E95 kt949 mbTyphoon
Sep 5, 00:0026.5N 126.8E95 kt949 mbTyphoon
Sep 5, 06:0026.5N 126.2E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 5, 12:0026.5N 125.8E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 5, 18:0026.4N 125.4E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 6, 00:0026.3N 125.1E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Sep 6, 06:0026.3N 124.8E85 kt958 mbTyphoon
Sep 6, 12:0026.3N 124.5E85 kt958 mbTyphoon
Sep 6, 18:0026.3N 123.8E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Sep 7, 00:0026.9N 122.7E70 kt972 mbTyphoon
Sep 7, 06:0027.1N 121.4E70 kt972 mbTyphoon
Sep 7, 12:0027.3N 120.2E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Sep 7, 18:0027.5N 118.7E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 00:0028.0N 117.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Sep 8, 06:0028.1N 115.9E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Sep 8, 12:0028.2N 114.4E15 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Sep 8, 18:0028.8N 112.8E1008 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 00:0029.4N 111.5E1008 mbTropical storm

Other Western Pacific storms of 2002

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.