The 2009 season

Cyclone Hamish (2009)

Cyclone Hamish reached Category 4 in the South Pacific between March 4, 2009 and March 14, 2009, with a lowest pressure of 922 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Hamish, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2009 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
March 4, 2009 to March 14, 2009
Peak strength
Category 4, 135 kt (155 mph)
Lowest pressure
922 mb (27.23 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 144 km (89 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
24.1
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
160 nmi (296 km, 184 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached
55 nmi (102 km, 63 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
15 nmi (28 km, 17 mi)
Overall size
180 nmi (333 km, 207 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
13 kt (15 mph)
Identifier
SH182009

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Mar 4, 18:0012.6S 148.2E15 kt1010 mbDisturbance
Mar 5, 00:0013.0S 147.7E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Mar 5, 06:0013.2S 147.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Mar 5, 12:0013.5S 147.0E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 5, 18:0014.0S 146.9E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 6, 00:0014.5S 146.9E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Mar 6, 06:0015.0S 146.9E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Mar 6, 12:0015.5S 147.3E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Mar 6, 18:0016.3S 147.8E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Mar 7, 00:0017.1S 148.3E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Mar 7, 06:0017.9S 148.8E120 kt933 mbTyphoon
Mar 7, 12:0018.6S 149.4E130 kt926 mbSuper typhoon
Mar 7, 18:0019.2S 150.0E135 kt922 mbSuper typhoon
Mar 8, 00:0020.0S 150.5E135 kt922 mbSuper typhoon
Mar 8, 06:0020.7S 151.0E130 kt926 mbSuper typhoon
Mar 8, 12:0021.2S 151.5E120 kt933 mbTyphoon
Mar 8, 18:0021.5S 152.2E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Mar 9, 00:0022.1S 152.7E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Mar 9, 06:0022.8S 153.3E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Mar 9, 12:0023.2S 153.8E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Mar 9, 18:0023.7S 154.2E110 kt941 mbTyphoon
Mar 10, 00:0024.3S 154.8E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Mar 10, 06:0024.7S 155.5E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Mar 10, 12:0024.6S 156.0E85 kt959 mbTyphoon
Mar 10, 18:0024.6S 155.6E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Mar 11, 00:0024.3S 155.1E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Mar 11, 06:0023.5S 154.9E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 11, 12:0022.5S 154.7E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 11, 18:0021.9S 153.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 12, 00:0021.8S 152.7E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Mar 12, 06:0021.4S 151.9E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Mar 12, 12:0020.8S 151.4E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Mar 12, 18:0020.4S 151.0E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Mar 13, 00:0020.1S 150.9E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Mar 13, 06:0019.8S 150.7E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Mar 13, 12:0019.3S 150.4E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Mar 13, 18:0018.8S 149.6E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Mar 14, 00:0017.7S 149.1E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance

Other South Pacific storms of 2009

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.