Cyclone Ula (2016)
Cyclone Ula reached Category 4 in the South Pacific between December 29, 2015 and January 16, 2016, with a lowest pressure of 933 mb.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Cyclone Ula. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.
Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- South Pacific
- Dates
- December 29, 2015 to January 16, 2016
- Peak strength
- Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 933 mb (27.55 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 245 km (152 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 31.8
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 160 nmi (296 km, 184 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
- 7 nmi (13 km, 8 mi)
- Overall size
- 225 nmi (417 km, 259 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Peak gust in the best track
- 140 kt (161 mph)
- Fastest the center moved
- 24 kt (28 mph)
- Identifier
- SH062016
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 29, 12:00 | 9.0S 171.0W | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 29, 18:00 | 9.2S 169.0W | 40 kt | 993 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 30, 00:00 | 10.6S 167.3W | 45 kt | 989 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 30, 06:00 | 12.0S 166.5W | 45 kt | 989 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 30, 12:00 | 14.3S 166.4W | 50 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 30, 18:00 | 15.0S 167.1W | 50 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 31, 00:00 | 15.2S 168.3W | 55 kt | 982 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 31, 06:00 | 15.4S 168.9W | 60 kt | 978 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 31, 12:00 | 15.8S 169.5W | 65 kt | 974 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 31, 18:00 | 16.2S 169.8W | 90 kt | 956 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 1, 00:00 | 16.8S 170.4W | 85 kt | 959 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 1, 06:00 | 17.5S 171.5W | 75 kt | 967 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 1, 12:00 | 18.0S 173.1W | 75 kt | 967 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 1, 18:00 | 18.2S 174.2W | 75 kt | 967 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 2, 00:00 | 18.3S 175.4W | 80 kt | 963 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 2, 06:00 | 18.3S 176.1W | 85 kt | 959 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 2, 12:00 | 18.6S 177.0W | 90 kt | 956 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 2, 18:00 | 19.1S 177.7W | 95 kt | 952 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 3, 00:00 | 19.9S 178.6W | 95 kt | 952 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 3, 06:00 | 20.3S 179.1W | 100 kt | 948 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 3, 12:00 | 21.0S 179.8W | 105 kt | 944 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 3, 18:00 | 21.5S 179.9E | 95 kt | 952 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 4, 00:00 | 21.9S 179.4E | 85 kt | 959 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 4, 06:00 | 22.0S 179.1E | 75 kt | 967 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 4, 12:00 | 22.0S 178.6E | 70 kt | 970 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 4, 18:00 | 21.9S 178.1E | 60 kt | 978 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 5, 00:00 | 21.7S 178.0E | 60 kt | 978 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 5, 06:00 | 21.4S 177.9E | 55 kt | 982 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 5, 12:00 | 21.2S 177.4E | 50 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 5, 18:00 | 21.0S 177.0E | 50 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 6, 00:00 | 20.6S 176.6E | 50 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 6, 06:00 | 20.3S 176.3E | 45 kt | 989 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 6, 12:00 | 19.9S 175.9E | 45 kt | 989 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 6, 18:00 | 19.6S 175.6E | 45 kt | 989 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 7, 00:00 | 19.4S 175.4E | 45 kt | 989 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 7, 06:00 | 19.1S 175.1E | 50 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 7, 12:00 | 18.8S 174.8E | 55 kt | 982 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 7, 18:00 | 18.7S 174.6E | 55 kt | 982 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 8, 00:00 | 18.5S 174.5E | 55 kt | 982 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 8, 06:00 | 18.4S 174.3E | 60 kt | 978 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 8, 12:00 | 18.4S 174.1E | 70 kt | 970 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 8, 18:00 | 18.4S 173.8E | 80 kt | 963 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 9, 00:00 | 18.6S 173.4E | 85 kt | 959 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 9, 06:00 | 18.8S 173.0E | 90 kt | 956 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 9, 12:00 | 19.0S 172.3E | 100 kt | 948 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 9, 18:00 | 19.3S 171.8E | 110 kt | 941 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 10, 00:00 | 19.9S 171.3E | 120 kt | 933 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 10, 06:00 | 20.4S 170.7E | 115 kt | 937 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 10, 12:00 | 21.1S 170.2E | 110 kt | 941 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 10, 18:00 | 21.8S 170.0E | 105 kt | 944 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 11, 00:00 | 23.0S 169.8E | 95 kt | 952 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 11, 06:00 | 24.1S 170.0E | 90 kt | 956 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 11, 12:00 | 25.1S 170.4E | 75 kt | 967 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 11, 18:00 | 26.1S 170.9E | 65 kt | 974 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 12, 00:00 | 27.2S 171.6E | 55 kt | 982 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 12, 06:00 | 28.3S 172.8E | 50 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 12, 12:00 | 29.0S 174.0E | 45 kt | 989 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 12, 18:00 | 29.6S 175.0E | 35 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 13, 00:00 | 30.2S 176.3E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Subtropical depression |
| Jan 13, 06:00 | 30.4S 177.4E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Subtropical depression |
| Jan 13, 12:00 | 30.3S 178.0E | 30 kt | 1005 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 13, 18:00 | 30.2S 178.6E | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 14, 00:00 | 29.5S 179.3E | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 14, 06:00 | 28.8S 179.7E | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 14, 12:00 | 28.5S 179.4E | 30 kt | 1007 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 14, 18:00 | 29.1S 178.1E | 25 kt | 1007 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 15, 00:00 | 28.6S 176.5E | 25 kt | 1007 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 15, 06:00 | 28.2S 175.7E | 25 kt | 1007 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 15, 12:00 | 28.6S 174.6E | 20 kt | 1009 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 15, 18:00 | 28.5S 173.4E | 20 kt | 1009 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 16, 00:00 | 28.4S 172.4E | 20 kt | 1009 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 16, 06:00 | 28.4S 171.8E | 20 kt | 1009 mb | Not reported |
Other South Pacific storms of 2016
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 2016
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 2016
- Tropical Storm TuniSouth Pacific · 2016
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 2016
- Cyclone VictorSouth Pacific · 2016
- Tropical Storm TatianaSouth Pacific · 2016
- Cyclone WinstonSouth Pacific · 2016
- Tropical Storm YaloSouth Pacific · 2016
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 2016
- Cyclone ZenaSouth Pacific · 2016
- Cyclone AmosSouth Pacific · 2016
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.