The 2008 season

Cyclone Funa (2008)

Cyclone Funa reached Category 3 in the South Pacific between January 15, 2008 and January 21, 2008, with a lowest pressure of 944 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Funa, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2008 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 15, 2008 to January 21, 2008
Peak strength
Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)
Lowest pressure
944 mb (27.88 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.6
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
165 nmi (306 km, 190 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached
70 nmi (130 km, 81 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi)
Overall size
280 nmi (519 km, 322 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
25 kt (29 mph)
Identifier
SH122008

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jan 15, 06:0016.0S 162.0E30 kt999 mbNot reported
Jan 15, 12:0015.4S 162.8E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Jan 15, 18:0015.4S 163.1E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Jan 16, 00:0015.3S 163.7E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jan 16, 06:0015.0S 164.6E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 12:0014.8S 165.7E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 18:0014.9S 167.1E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Jan 17, 00:0015.1S 168.2E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Jan 17, 06:0015.5S 169.2E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Jan 17, 12:0016.0S 170.3E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Jan 17, 18:0016.7S 171.3E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Jan 18, 00:0017.4S 172.2E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Jan 18, 06:0018.2S 173.0E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Jan 18, 12:0018.8S 173.6E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Jan 18, 18:0019.8S 174.2E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Jan 19, 00:0021.0S 174.7E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Jan 19, 06:0022.3S 175.2E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Jan 19, 12:0024.0S 175.5E95 kt952 mbTyphoon
Jan 19, 18:0026.1S 175.0E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Jan 20, 00:0028.1S 173.5E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Jan 20, 06:0029.0S 171.3E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Jan 20, 12:0030.1S 170.1E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Jan 20, 18:0031.5S 168.9E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jan 21, 00:0033.1S 167.9E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jan 21, 06:0034.6S 167.7E50 kt987 mbNot reported
Jan 21, 12:0036.7S 167.9E45 kt987 mbNot reported
Jan 21, 18:0038.3S 169.2E45 kt992 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 2008

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.