The 2015 season

Typhoon Mekkhala (2015)

Typhoon Mekkhala reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between January 12, 2015 and January 20, 2015, with a lowest pressure of 970 mb, and made landfall. It killed 3 people, as Wikidata records it.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Mekkhala, 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
Western Pacific
Dates
January 12, 2015 to January 20, 2015
Peak strength
Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
Lowest pressure
970 mb (28.64 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.3
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
140 nmi (259 km, 161 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
20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi)
Overall size
210 nmi (389 km, 242 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
14 kt (16 mph)
Identifier
WP012015

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

Wikidata

3 deathsno damage figure

A community-maintained total, usually direct and indirect deaths together and damage worldwide. Joined to this storm by its IBTrACS serial, not by name.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jan 12, 06:008.6N 145.9E15 kt1010 mbDisturbance
Jan 12, 12:008.7N 144.7E20 kt1003 mbDisturbance
Jan 12, 18:008.8N 143.6E20 kt1004 mbDisturbance
Jan 13, 00:008.7N 142.9E20 kt1002 mbDisturbance
Jan 13, 06:008.5N 142.5E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Jan 13, 12:008.8N 141.7E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Jan 13, 18:009.3N 140.8E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Jan 14, 00:0010.0N 139.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jan 14, 06:0010.4N 138.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jan 14, 12:0010.9N 137.1E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jan 14, 18:0011.3N 135.7E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jan 15, 00:0011.6N 134.7E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 06:0011.7N 133.7E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 12:0011.6N 132.7E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 18:0011.5N 131.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 00:0011.4N 130.9E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 06:0011.4N 129.9E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 12:0011.3N 128.7E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 16, 18:0011.3N 127.9E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Jan 17, 00:0011.5N 126.8E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Jan 17, 06:0011.9N 125.9E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Jan 17, 12:0012.3N 125.1E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Jan 17, 18:0012.7N 124.2E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 18, 00:0013.5N 123.5E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Jan 18, 06:0014.1N 123.0E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 18, 12:0014.9N 123.1E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jan 18, 18:0015.7N 123.1E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jan 19, 00:0016.4N 122.9E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jan 19, 06:0016.9N 123.1E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Jan 19, 12:0016.8N 123.4E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Jan 19, 18:0016.8N 123.9E15 kt1010 mbDisturbance
Jan 20, 00:0016.8N 124.5E15 kt1010 mbDisturbance
Jan 20, 06:0016.9N 124.7E1012 mbTropical storm
Jan 20, 12:0017.0N 125.0E1012 mbTropical storm
Jan 20, 18:0017.3N 125.2E1012 mbTropical storm

Other Western 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.