Cyclone Pam (2015)
Cyclone Pam reached Category 5 in the South Pacific between March 7, 2015 and March 20, 2015, with a lowest pressure of 911 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Cyclone Pam, 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.
The storm
- Basin
- South Pacific
- Dates
- March 7, 2015 to March 20, 2015
- Peak strength
- Category 5, 150 kt (173 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 911 mb (26.90 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 105 km (65 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 39.1
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 185 nmi (343 km, 213 mi) from the center at its widest
- Hurricane-force wind reached
- 35 nmi (65 km, 40 mi) from the center at its widest
- Eyewall radius at its peak
- 12 nmi (22 km, 14 mi)
- Overall size
- 260 nmi (482 km, 299 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Fastest the center moved
- 44 kt (51 mph)
- Identifier
- SH172015
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 7, 06:00 | 8.0S 169.5E | 20 kt | 1000 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 7, 12:00 | 8.2S 169.0E | Not reported | ||
| Mar 7, 18:00 | 8.4S 169.0E | 20 kt | 1000 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 8, 00:00 | 8.8S 168.8E | 20 kt | 1001 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 8, 06:00 | 8.0S 169.7E | 25 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 8, 12:00 | 7.5S 168.9E | 25 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical depression |
| Mar 8, 18:00 | 7.8S 169.2E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Mar 9, 00:00 | 8.1S 169.6E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Mar 9, 06:00 | 8.5S 170.1E | 35 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 9, 12:00 | 9.0S 170.6E | 45 kt | 989 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 9, 18:00 | 9.3S 170.5E | 55 kt | 982 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 10, 00:00 | 9.7S 170.5E | 60 kt | 978 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 10, 06:00 | 10.2S 170.5E | 65 kt | 974 mb | Typhoon |
| Mar 10, 12:00 | 10.6S 170.1E | 75 kt | 967 mb | Typhoon |
| Mar 10, 18:00 | 10.8S 170.0E | 85 kt | 959 mb | Typhoon |
| Mar 11, 00:00 | 11.0S 169.7E | 100 kt | 948 mb | Typhoon |
| Mar 11, 06:00 | 11.0S 169.8E | 105 kt | 944 mb | Typhoon |
| Mar 11, 12:00 | 11.3S 170.0E | 110 kt | 941 mb | Typhoon |
| Mar 11, 18:00 | 11.9S 170.2E | 115 kt | 937 mb | Typhoon |
| Mar 12, 00:00 | 12.7S 170.1E | 120 kt | 933 mb | Typhoon |
| Mar 12, 06:00 | 13.4S 170.1E | 125 kt | 929 mb | Typhoon |
| Mar 12, 12:00 | 14.3S 169.7E | 135 kt | 922 mb | Super typhoon |
| Mar 12, 18:00 | 15.0S 169.3E | 140 kt | 918 mb | Super typhoon |
| Mar 13, 00:00 | 15.9S 169.0E | 140 kt | 918 mb | Super typhoon |
| Mar 13, 06:00 | 16.6S 168.7E | 150 kt | 911 mb | Super typhoon |
| Mar 13, 12:00 | 17.6S 168.7E | 150 kt | 911 mb | Super typhoon |
| Mar 13, 18:00 | 19.0S 168.9E | 145 kt | 914 mb | Super typhoon |
| Mar 14, 00:00 | 20.5S 169.2E | 140 kt | 918 mb | Super typhoon |
| Mar 14, 06:00 | 22.3S 170.1E | 135 kt | 922 mb | Super typhoon |
| Mar 14, 12:00 | 24.6S 171.1E | 125 kt | 929 mb | Typhoon |
| Mar 14, 18:00 | 27.0S 172.7E | 115 kt | 937 mb | Typhoon |
| Mar 15, 00:00 | 30.0S 174.8E | 95 kt | 952 mb | Typhoon |
| Mar 15, 06:00 | 31.8S 176.7E | 65 kt | 974 mb | Typhoon |
| Mar 15, 12:00 | 33.8S 178.5E | 55 kt | 982 mb | Extratropical |
| Mar 15, 18:00 | 35.5S 180.0E | 70 kt | 960 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 16, 00:00 | 36.8S 180.6E | 70 kt | 962 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 16, 06:00 | 38.1S 181.7E | 70 kt | 959 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 16, 12:00 | 39.2S 182.6E | 70 kt | 956 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 16, 18:00 | 40.4S 183.9E | 75 kt | 952 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 17, 00:00 | 42.0S 186.3E | 80 kt | 945 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 17, 06:00 | 43.4S 187.7E | 80 kt | 944 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 17, 12:00 | 45.1S 188.6E | 75 kt | 949 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 17, 18:00 | 46.2S 189.5E | 75 kt | 943 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 18, 00:00 | 46.4S 189.4E | 70 kt | 948 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 18, 06:00 | 46.3S 190.4E | 75 kt | 941 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 18, 12:00 | 46.2S 192.5E | 65 kt | 953 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 18, 18:00 | 47.0S 195.0E | 65 kt | 949 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 19, 00:00 | 47.0S 196.9E | 60 kt | 958 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 19, 06:00 | 46.9S 199.1E | 60 kt | 964 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 19, 12:00 | 46.0S 201.6E | 60 kt | 966 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 19, 18:00 | 45.5S 206.0E | 50 kt | 968 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 20, 00:00 | 45.2S 212.0E | 50 kt | 969 mb | Not reported |
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.