The 2015 season

Cyclone Marcia (2015)

Cyclone Marcia reached Category 4 in the South Pacific between February 16, 2015 and February 22, 2015, with a lowest pressure of 929 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Marcia, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2015 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
February 16, 2015 to February 22, 2015
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Lowest pressure
929 mb (27.43 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.0
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
75 nmi (139 km, 86 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached
20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
12 nmi (22 km, 14 mi)
Overall size
220 nmi (407 km, 253 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
17 kt (20 mph)
Identifier
SH132015

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Feb 16, 06:0015.0S 152.3E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 12:0014.6S 153.9E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 18:0014.3S 155.0E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 17, 00:0014.6S 155.6E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 17, 06:0014.8S 155.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 17, 12:0015.1S 156.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 17, 18:0015.5S 156.1E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 18, 00:0016.5S 155.9E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 06:0017.3S 155.3E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 12:0018.3S 154.3E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 18:0019.2S 153.2E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 00:0020.0S 152.1E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Feb 19, 06:0020.5S 150.8E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Feb 19, 12:0020.9S 150.6E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Feb 19, 18:0021.7S 150.5E125 kt929 mbTyphoon
Feb 20, 00:0022.8S 150.5E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Feb 20, 06:0023.8S 150.5E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Feb 20, 12:0024.6S 150.9E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 20, 18:0025.5S 151.5E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 21, 00:0026.1S 152.1E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 21, 06:0026.7S 153.1E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 21, 12:0027.2S 154.2E30 kt1000 mbSubtropical depression
Feb 21, 18:0027.2S 154.7E35 kt996 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 22, 00:0027.1S 155.1E35 kt996 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 22, 06:0026.8S 155.5E35 kt996 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 22, 12:0026.2S 155.6E35 kt996 mbSubtropical storm

Other South Pacific storms of 2015

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.