The 2018 season

Cyclone Gita (2018)

Cyclone Gita reached Category 4 in the South Pacific between February 7, 2018 and February 22, 2018, with a lowest pressure of 929 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Gita, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2018 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 7, 2018 to February 22, 2018
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Lowest pressure
929 mb (27.43 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
31.3
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
190 nmi (352 km, 219 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached
51 nmi (94 km, 59 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi)
Overall size
235 nmi (435 km, 270 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
35 kt (40 mph)
Identifier
SH092018

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Feb 7, 06:0015.4S 172.1E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Feb 7, 12:0015.7S 173.6E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Feb 7, 18:0016.0S 175.4E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Feb 8, 00:0016.3S 177.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Feb 8, 06:0016.0S 179.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 8, 12:0015.7S 179.3W35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 8, 18:0014.5S 177.6W45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Feb 9, 00:0014.0S 175.5W45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Feb 9, 06:0014.1S 174.4W45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Feb 9, 12:0014.4S 172.9W50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 9, 18:0015.0S 171.4W55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 10, 00:0015.8S 169.8W60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Feb 10, 06:0017.2S 168.9W65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Feb 10, 12:0018.5S 168.5W70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Feb 10, 18:0019.5S 168.3W75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Feb 11, 00:0020.5S 168.4W85 kt963 mbTyphoon
Feb 11, 06:0021.0S 169.1W90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Feb 11, 12:0021.4S 170.0W95 kt952 mbTyphoon
Feb 11, 18:0021.7S 171.4W100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Feb 12, 00:0021.7S 172.7W115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Feb 12, 06:0021.5S 174.1W125 kt929 mbTyphoon
Feb 12, 12:0021.3S 175.8W120 kt933 mbTyphoon
Feb 12, 18:0021.3S 177.2W115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Feb 13, 00:0021.2S 178.5W110 kt941 mbTyphoon
Feb 13, 06:0021.0S 179.6W110 kt941 mbTyphoon
Feb 13, 12:0021.0S 179.3E110 kt941 mbTyphoon
Feb 13, 18:0021.0S 178.4E115 kt937 mbTyphoon
Feb 14, 00:0021.1S 177.5E115 kt938 mbTyphoon
Feb 14, 06:0021.2S 176.8E110 kt941 mbTyphoon
Feb 14, 12:0021.4S 175.9E110 kt941 mbTyphoon
Feb 14, 18:0021.4S 175.1E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Feb 15, 00:0021.5S 174.2E95 kt952 mbTyphoon
Feb 15, 06:0021.8S 173.4E95 kt952 mbTyphoon
Feb 15, 12:0022.0S 172.2E100 kt951 mbTyphoon
Feb 15, 18:0022.3S 171.1E100 kt949 mbTyphoon
Feb 16, 00:0022.6S 169.9E95 kt953 mbTyphoon
Feb 16, 06:0023.0S 169.0E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Feb 16, 12:0023.5S 168.0E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Feb 16, 18:0023.9S 167.3E75 kt967 mbTyphoon
Feb 17, 00:0024.5S 166.4E70 kt969 mbTyphoon
Feb 17, 06:0025.0S 165.6E65 kt972 mbTyphoon
Feb 17, 12:0025.5S 164.8E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 17, 18:0026.0S 164.0E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 00:0026.6S 163.3E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 06:0027.3S 162.7E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 12:0027.9S 162.2E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 18:0029.2S 161.8E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 00:0030.8S 162.0E55 kt982 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 19, 06:0032.4S 162.8E55 kt982 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 19, 12:0034.2S 164.2E55 kt982 mbSubtropical storm
Feb 19, 18:0035.8S 167.0E55 kt982 mbExtratropical
Feb 20, 00:0037.8S 169.7E50 kt985 mbExtratropical
Feb 20, 06:0040.8S 170.9E974 mbNot reported
Feb 20, 12:0043.1S 174.5E982 mbNot reported
Feb 20, 18:0044.4S 175.4E983 mbNot reported
Feb 21, 00:0045.5S 175.5E983 mbNot reported
Feb 21, 06:0046.1S 176.3E983 mbNot reported
Feb 21, 12:0046.8S 177.6E980 mbNot reported
Feb 21, 18:0047.6S 179.8E978 mbNot reported
Feb 22, 00:0048.2S 182.7E980 mbNot reported
Feb 22, 06:0048.5S 186.0E981 mbNot reported
Feb 22, 12:0048.8S 189.8E982 mbNot reported
Feb 22, 18:0049.1S 194.4E983 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 2018

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.