The 2003 season

Cyclone Ami (2003)

Cyclone Ami reached Category 3 in the South Pacific between January 10, 2003 and January 17, 2003, with a lowest pressure of 944 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Ami, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2003 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
January 10, 2003 to January 17, 2003
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
944 mb (27.88 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
11.6
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
150 nmi (278 km, 173 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi)
Overall size
225 nmi (417 km, 259 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
55 kt (63 mph)
Identifier
SH102003

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jan 10, 12:009.5S 177.6W15 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Jan 10, 18:009.6S 178.0W15 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Jan 11, 00:009.8S 178.5W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Jan 11, 06:0010.1S 179.0W25 kt1002 mbTropical depression
Jan 11, 12:0010.7S 179.3W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Jan 11, 18:0011.1S 179.4W35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 00:0011.3S 179.5W40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 06:0011.5S 179.7W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 12:0011.9S 179.9E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 18:0012.5S 179.8E65 kt976 mbTyphoon
Jan 13, 00:0013.3S 179.8E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Jan 13, 06:0014.3S 179.7E85 kt958 mbTyphoon
Jan 13, 12:0015.3S 179.7E90 kt954 mbTyphoon
Jan 13, 18:0017.0S 180.0W95 kt949 mbTyphoon
Jan 14, 00:0019.2S 179.2W110 kt952 mbHurricane
Jan 14, 06:0021.1S 177.9W110 kt952 mbHurricane
Jan 14, 12:0023.2S 176.1W105 kt956 mbHurricane
Jan 14, 18:0025.2S 173.3W100 kt944 mbHurricane
Jan 15, 00:0027.2S 169.9W90 kt954 mbHurricane
Jan 15, 06:0028.7S 166.0W70 kt984 mbHurricane
Jan 15, 12:0029.0S 161.7W70 kt972 mbHurricane
Jan 15, 18:0030.3S 200.0E45 kt985 mbNot reported
Jan 16, 00:0032.6S 202.3E35 kt993 mbNot reported
Jan 16, 06:0036.1S 206.9E35 kt980 mbNot reported
Jan 16, 12:0039.3S 212.3E50 kt975 mbNot reported
Jan 16, 18:0041.4S 216.4E45 kt978 mbNot reported
Jan 17, 00:0044.0S 221.0E45 kt977 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 2003

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.