The 2010 season

Cyclone Laurence (2010)

Cyclone Laurence reached Category 4 in the South Pacific between December 8, 2009 and December 23, 2009, with a lowest pressure of 926 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Laurence, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2010 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
December 8, 2009 to December 23, 2009
Peak strength
Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)
Lowest pressure
926 mb (27.34 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
19.4
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
130 nmi (241 km, 150 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached
45 nmi (83 km, 52 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
15 nmi (28 km, 17 mi)
Overall size
200 nmi (370 km, 230 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
28 kt (32 mph)
Identifier
SH062010

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Dec 8, 00:008.9S 139.5E20 kt1008 mbDisturbance
Dec 8, 06:009.2S 138.2E20 kt1005 mbDisturbance
Dec 8, 12:009.5S 138.0E20 kt1006 mbDisturbance
Dec 8, 18:009.7S 137.7E20 kt1006 mbDisturbance
Dec 9, 00:009.8S 137.2E20 kt1008 mbDisturbance
Dec 9, 06:009.9S 136.6E20 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Dec 9, 12:009.9S 135.9E25 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Dec 9, 18:009.9S 135.2E25 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 00:0010.0S 134.5E25 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 06:0010.3S 133.7E25 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 12:0010.4S 133.4E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 18:0010.5S 133.1E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 00:0010.7S 132.7E25 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 06:0011.3S 132.1E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 12:0012.1S 131.4E15 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Dec 11, 18:0012.4S 131.1E15 kt1010 mbDisturbance
Dec 12, 00:0012.6S 130.8E15 kt1010 mbDisturbance
Dec 12, 06:0013.0S 130.5E15 kt1010 mbDisturbance
Dec 12, 12:0013.3S 130.0E15 kt1010 mbDisturbance
Dec 12, 18:0013.3S 129.3E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Dec 13, 00:0013.2S 128.6E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Dec 13, 06:0012.8S 128.1E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 13, 12:0012.2S 127.9E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 13, 18:0012.7S 128.4E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 00:0013.2S 128.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 06:0013.1S 128.0E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 12:0013.1S 127.2E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 18:0013.5S 126.7E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 00:0013.8S 126.3E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Dec 15, 06:0014.3S 125.6E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Dec 15, 12:0014.7S 125.0E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Dec 15, 18:0015.1S 124.6E120 kt933 mbTyphoon
Dec 16, 00:0015.4S 124.2E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Dec 16, 06:0016.0S 124.0E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Dec 16, 12:0016.5S 124.0E85 kt956 mbTyphoon
Dec 16, 18:0016.8S 124.3E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Dec 17, 00:0017.1S 124.6E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Dec 17, 06:0017.5S 124.8E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 12:0017.4S 124.5E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 18:0017.5S 124.4E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 00:0017.3S 124.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 18, 06:0017.4S 124.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 18, 12:0017.3S 123.4E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 18:0016.9S 123.0E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 00:0016.7S 122.5E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 06:0017.0S 122.1E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 12:0017.4S 121.7E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 18:0017.6S 121.2E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 00:0018.0S 121.0E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Dec 20, 06:0018.3S 120.7E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Dec 20, 12:0018.5S 120.4E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Dec 20, 18:0018.7S 120.4E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Dec 21, 00:0019.0S 120.4E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Dec 21, 06:0019.5S 120.6E130 kt926 mbSuper typhoon
Dec 21, 12:0020.0S 120.9E120 kt933 mbTyphoon
Dec 21, 18:0020.5S 121.0E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Dec 22, 00:0021.2S 121.3E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Dec 22, 06:0022.0S 121.7E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 12:0022.8S 122.5E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 18:0023.7S 123.6E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 00:0024.6S 125.3E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 06:0025.1S 127.2E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 12:0025.8S 130.1E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Dec 23, 18:0025.9S 132.9E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression

Other South Pacific storms of 2010

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.