Hurricane History Map

1997 South Pacific and Australian region season

18 storms formed in the South Pacific and Australian region basin in 1997, from 19 November 1996 to 17 June 1997.

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Years1997
Ocean basin

Choosing a minimum category hides storms with no wind speed in the record. To see which storms have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • Tropical depression Winds below 34 knots (39 mph)
  • Tropical storm 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph)
  • Category 1 64 to 82 knots (74 to 95 mph)
  • Category 2 83 to 95 knots (96 to 110 mph)
  • Category 3 96 to 112 knots (111 to 129 mph), major
  • Category 4 113 to 136 knots (130 to 156 mph), major
  • Category 5 137 knots (157 mph) or more, major
  • Unknown intensity No wind speed in the record
  • Post-tropical Storm has become post-tropical (dashed line)

How to read the lines. Each line is the track of one storm, drawn through its six-hourly positions and coloured by its intensity at each point (the Saffir-Simpson scale), so a line changes colour as the storm strengthens or weakens. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see which storms have passed nearby. Weaker storms appear as you zoom in. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same kind of storm with different names in different oceans.

The 1997 season in numbers

The record holds 18 storms for the 1997 South Pacific and Australian region season, of which 16 had names.18 reached tropical storm strength (34 knots or more), 11 reached cyclone strength (category 1 or more) and 3 were major (category 3 or more).

  • 18storms
  • 18tropical storm strength or more
  • 11cyclone strength or more
  • 3major (category 3 to 5)
  • 169accumulated cyclone energy

Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the squared wind speed of every position of 34 knots or more, divided by 10,000. It is approximate here because the winds are 1-minute equivalents, and it is mostly useful for comparing seasons of one basin.

Strongest storms of 1997

  • Drena (1997)1 January 1997 to 13 January 1997, peak Category 4 (120 kt), 935 hPa
  • Gavin (1997)2 March 1997 to 14 March 1997, peak Category 4 (120 kt), 925 hPa
  • Keli (1997)5 June 1997 to 17 June 1997, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 955 hPa
  • Fergus (1997)19 December 1996 to 1 January 1997, peak Category 2 (90 kt), 955 hPa
  • Justin (1997)3 March 1997 to 29 March 1997, peak Category 2 (90 kt), 955 hPa

All 18 storms of 1997

StormPeak
Cyril Tropical storm
Fergus Category 2
Phil Category 2
Rachel Category 1
Drena Category 4
Evan Category 1
Freda Category 1
Gillian Tropical storm
Harold Tropical storm
Ita Tropical storm
Unnamed storm Tropical storm
Gavin Category 4
Justin Category 2
Hina Category 1
Ian Tropical storm
June Category 1
Unnamed storm Tropical storm
Keli Category 4

← 1996 · 1998 → · All seasons

Other basins in 1997

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