Hurricane History Map

1998 South Pacific and Australian region season

22 storms formed in the South Pacific and Australian region basin in 1998, from 4 October 1997 to 3 May 1998.

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Years1998
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 1998 season in numbers

The record holds 22 storms for the 1998 South Pacific and Australian region season, of which 20 had names.22 reached tropical storm strength (34 knots or more), 13 reached cyclone strength (category 1 or more) and 4 were major (category 3 or more).

  • 22storms
  • 22tropical storm strength or more
  • 13cyclone strength or more
  • 4major (category 3 to 5)
  • 203accumulated 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 1998

  • Ron (1998)1 January 1998 to 9 January 1998, peak Category 5 (145 kt), 900 hPa
  • Susan (1998)20 December 1997 to 10 January 1998, peak Category 5 (140 kt), 900 hPa
  • Martin (1998)28 October 1997 to 8 November 1997, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 945 hPa
  • Zuman (1998)28 March 1998 to 10 April 1998, peak Category 3 (100 kt), 955 hPa
  • Osea (1998)21 November 1997 to 28 November 1997, peak Category 2 (90 kt), 950 hPa

All 22 storms of 1998

StormPeak
Lusi Tropical storm
Unnamed storm Tropical storm
Martin Category 3
Nute Category 1
Osea Category 2
Pam Category 1
Susan Category 5
Ron Category 5
Katrina Category 2
Les Tropical storm
Tui Tropical storm
Ursula Category 1
Veli Category 1
Wes Tropical storm
Cindy:victor Category 2
May Tropical storm
Yali Category 2
Nathan Category 1
Zuman Category 3
Unnamed storm Tropical storm
Alan Tropical storm
Bart Tropical storm

← 1997 · 1999 → · All seasons

Other basins in 1998

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