The 2017 season

Cyclone Donna (2017)

Cyclone Donna reached Category 4 in the South Pacific between May 2, 2017 and May 15, 2017, with a lowest pressure of 929 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Donna, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2017 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
May 2, 2017 to May 15, 2017
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Lowest pressure
929 mb (27.43 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 29 km (18 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
24.6
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
190 nmi (352 km, 219 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached
70 nmi (130 km, 81 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi)
Overall size
225 nmi (417 km, 259 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Peak gust in the best track
110 kt (127 mph)
Fastest the center moved
35 kt (40 mph)
Identifier
SH182017

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
May 2, 00:0012.7S 170.4E15 kt1000 mbNot reported
May 2, 06:0012.8S 170.8E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
May 2, 12:0013.1S 170.9E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
May 2, 18:0013.1S 171.2E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
May 3, 00:0012.8S 171.6E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
May 3, 06:0012.6S 171.3E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
May 3, 12:0012.6S 170.6E55 kt992 mbTropical storm
May 3, 18:0012.7S 169.5E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
May 4, 00:0012.5S 168.6E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
May 4, 06:0012.5S 168.1E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
May 4, 12:0012.6S 167.4E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
May 4, 18:0012.8S 166.9E85 kt968 mbTyphoon
May 5, 00:0013.0S 166.2E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
May 5, 06:0013.3S 165.7E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
May 5, 12:0013.6S 164.9E85 kt959 mbTyphoon
May 5, 18:0013.3S 164.5E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
May 6, 00:0013.2S 164.4E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
May 6, 06:0013.2S 164.3E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
May 6, 12:0013.4S 164.1E85 kt959 mbTyphoon
May 6, 18:0013.3S 164.0E90 kt964 mbTyphoon
May 7, 00:0013.9S 164.2E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
May 7, 06:0014.6S 164.6E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
May 7, 12:0015.5S 164.8E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
May 7, 18:0016.4S 164.7E115 kt944 mbTyphoon
May 8, 00:0016.9S 164.7E125 kt929 mbTyphoon
May 8, 06:0017.5S 165.1E120 kt933 mbTyphoon
May 8, 12:0018.0S 165.5E110 kt941 mbTyphoon
May 8, 18:0018.6S 165.9E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
May 9, 00:0019.4S 166.4E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
May 9, 06:0020.3S 167.2E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
May 9, 12:0020.5S 166.5E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
May 9, 18:0020.7S 167.3E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
May 10, 00:0021.6S 167.9E40 kt1001 mbTropical storm
May 10, 06:0022.9S 168.0E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 10, 12:0024.1S 168.0E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
May 10, 18:0025.8S 167.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
May 11, 00:0029.3S 168.0E35 kt994 mbNot reported
May 11, 06:0031.6S 168.8E35 kt994 mbNot reported
May 11, 12:0032.8S 170.0E35 kt995 mbNot reported
May 11, 18:0033.9S 171.8E35 kt995 mbNot reported
May 12, 00:0035.0S 175.0E35 kt995 mbNot reported
May 12, 06:0036.4S 177.7E40 kt994 mbNot reported
May 12, 12:0037.9S 180.6E40 kt992 mbNot reported
May 12, 18:0039.2S 183.2E45 kt990 mbNot reported
May 13, 00:0040.0S 185.4E45 kt990 mbNot reported
May 13, 06:0040.0S 186.7E45 kt990 mbNot reported
May 13, 12:0039.9S 187.5E45 kt990 mbNot reported
May 13, 18:0039.6S 188.3E45 kt990 mbNot reported
May 14, 00:0039.4S 189.1E45 kt990 mbNot reported
May 14, 06:0039.2S 190.8E45 kt990 mbNot reported
May 14, 12:0038.9S 192.5E45 kt991 mbNot reported
May 14, 18:0038.5S 195.1E40 kt992 mbNot reported
May 15, 00:0038.6S 197.8E40 kt992 mbNot reported
May 15, 06:0039.4S 200.1E40 kt992 mbNot reported
May 15, 12:0040.0S 201.6E40 kt992 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 2017

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.