Cyclone Pam path, 2015

What the record says

Pam was a cyclone in the South Pacific and Australian region basin that lasted about 13 days, from 7 March 2015 to 20 March 2015. Its peak was Category 5 (150 kt) on 13 March 2015, with a 1-minute sustained wind of 150 kt (173 mph, 278 km/h). Its lowest recorded pressure was 896 hPa.

• Category 5peak intensity
• 150 ktpeak wind (173 mph)
• 896 hPalowest pressure
• 13 dayslifetime

Source of the peak wind: US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (southern hemisphere). The regional forecast centre (RSMC Nadi (Fiji Meteorological Service)) gave a peak of 135 kt on its own averaging convention (10-minute winds), so the two figures differ.

It has its own page because it reached category 5 or stronger and it is a well-known storm.

This page gives the official record's figures. It does not describe the human cost of the storm, which is far larger than any wind speed or pressure here.

Where it came ashore

The record shows no landfall: the storm stayed at sea.

Countries it came within 50 km of

Strongest effect first.

• Vanuatu

How to read this track

The line joins the storm's six-hourly positions with straight lines, coloured by its intensity at each point, so it shows how the storm strengthened and weakened. The real path curved between the positions. A dashed grey stretch means the storm had become post-tropical. Records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are estimates.

Source: NOAA NCEI IBTrACS, public domain. See data sources and caveats.