The 2016 season

Cyclone Winston (2016)

Cyclone Winston reached Category 5 in the South Pacific between February 9, 2016 and February 28, 2016, with a lowest pressure of 907 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Winston, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2016 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
February 9, 2016 to February 28, 2016
Peak strength
Category 5, 155 kt (178 mph)
Lowest pressure
907 mb (26.78 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
46.9
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
220 nmi (407 km, 253 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached
50 nmi (93 km, 58 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
12 nmi (22 km, 14 mi)
Overall size
250 nmi (463 km, 288 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Peak gust in the best track
130 kt (150 mph)
Fastest the center moved
21 kt (24 mph)
Identifier
SH112016

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Feb 9, 18:0013.6S 169.5E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Feb 10, 00:0014.1S 169.9E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 10, 06:0014.5S 170.3E30 kt999 mbTropical depression
Feb 10, 12:0015.0S 170.8E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 10, 18:0015.3S 171.0E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Feb 11, 00:0015.6S 171.2E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Feb 11, 06:0016.1S 171.4E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Feb 11, 12:0016.5S 171.4E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 11, 18:0017.1S 171.5E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Feb 12, 00:0017.8S 171.5E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Feb 12, 06:0018.7S 171.5E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Feb 12, 12:0019.7S 171.4E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Feb 12, 18:0020.7S 171.5E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Feb 13, 00:0022.1S 171.7E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Feb 13, 06:0023.2S 172.1E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Feb 13, 12:0024.3S 172.7E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Feb 13, 18:0024.8S 173.8E95 kt952 mbTyphoon
Feb 14, 00:0025.4S 175.2E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Feb 14, 06:0025.4S 176.3E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Feb 14, 12:0024.8S 177.6E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Feb 14, 18:0024.0S 178.7E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Feb 15, 00:0022.9S 179.5E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 15, 06:0021.7S 179.4W50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 15, 12:0020.7S 178.2W50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 15, 18:0019.8S 176.7W45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 00:0019.0S 175.5W50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 06:0018.4S 174.5W55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 12:0017.9S 173.6W60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 18:0017.6S 172.4W70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Feb 17, 00:0017.5S 171.6W80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Feb 17, 06:0017.4S 171.3W85 kt959 mbTyphoon
Feb 17, 12:0017.3S 171.1W90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Feb 17, 18:0017.2S 170.9W90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Feb 18, 00:0017.1S 171.1W100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Feb 18, 06:0017.1S 171.6W100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Feb 18, 12:0017.2S 172.4W105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Feb 18, 18:0017.4S 173.4W105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Feb 19, 00:0017.5S 174.6W110 kt941 mbTyphoon
Feb 19, 06:0017.4S 175.9W125 kt929 mbTyphoon
Feb 19, 12:0017.2S 177.5W130 kt926 mbSuper typhoon
Feb 19, 18:0017.1S 178.7W140 kt918 mbSuper typhoon
Feb 20, 00:0017.2S 180.0W150 kt911 mbSuper typhoon
Feb 20, 06:0017.4S 178.6E155 kt907 mbSuper typhoon
Feb 20, 12:0017.5S 176.9E140 kt918 mbSuper typhoon
Feb 20, 18:0017.4S 175.7E125 kt929 mbTyphoon
Feb 21, 00:0017.4S 174.7E120 kt933 mbTyphoon
Feb 21, 06:0017.5S 173.9E120 kt933 mbTyphoon
Feb 21, 12:0017.6S 173.2E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Feb 21, 18:0017.6S 172.8E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Feb 22, 00:0017.7S 172.5E95 kt952 mbTyphoon
Feb 22, 06:0017.9S 172.2E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Feb 22, 12:0018.3S 172.2E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Feb 22, 18:0018.6S 172.4E85 kt959 mbTyphoon
Feb 23, 00:0019.2S 172.8E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Feb 23, 06:0019.8S 173.2E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Feb 23, 12:0020.7S 173.8E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Feb 23, 18:0021.6S 174.1E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 00:0022.6S 174.3E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 06:0023.5S 174.2E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 12:0024.2S 173.4E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 18:0024.6S 172.4E40 kt993 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 25, 00:0025.5S 171.3E40 kt993 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 25, 06:0026.4S 169.5E40 kt993 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 25, 12:0026.9S 167.6E40 kt993 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 25, 18:0027.3S 165.4E40 kt993 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 26, 00:0027.4S 163.1E40 kt993 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 26, 06:0027.3S 161.5E40 kt993 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 26, 12:0026.8S 160.5E35 kt996 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 26, 18:0026.3S 159.8E35 kt996 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 27, 00:0025.8S 159.1E30 kt1000 mbSubtropical depression
Feb 27, 06:0025.2S 158.5E30 kt1000 mbSubtropical depression
Feb 27, 12:0024.4S 158.1E25 kt1004 mbSubtropical depression
Feb 27, 18:0023.9S 157.6E25 kt1004 mbSubtropical depression
Feb 28, 00:0023.6S 157.0E25 kt1004 mbSubtropical depression
Feb 28, 06:0023.0S 156.8E25 kt1004 mbSubtropical depression
Feb 28, 12:0022.5S 156.3E20 kt1007 mbSubtropical depression

Other South Pacific storms of 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.