KATRINA
1997-98 season · AU199798_04U
History
Severe Tropical Cyclone Katrina was a remarkably long-lived and erratic system that wandered the Coral Sea and South Pacific through January 1998. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology began tracking a tropical low within the monsoon trough about 630 km east-north-east of Cairns on 1 January. After drifting south-east into an area of weak steering, the low completed a small cyclonic loop and intensified quickly, prompting the BoM to name it Katrina as a Category 1 system on 3 January.
Increased westerly flow then pushed Katrina north-east towards the South Pacific, and its development was hampered for several days by shear generated by the outflow of Cyclone Susan, which was intensifying to the west of Vanuatu. Katrina crossed 160°E on 7 January, passing roughly 90 km south of Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands, then turned south-east towards Vanuatu, approaching within 220 km of Espiritu Santo. It recurved westward on 9 January and reached its peak that day as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone, with 10-minute sustained winds of 150 km/h; the Joint Typhoon Warning Center assessed 1-minute winds of 165 km/h. A central pressure near 940 hPa was recorded during a second period of strengthening around 15 January. Katrina then weakened, executed a tight loop on 17–18 January, briefly regained Category 1 strength, and fell to a tropical depression by 24 January, degenerating near Far North Queensland the following day. Its remnants tracked west over Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf of Carpentaria and may have reformed as Cyclone Victor on 8 February.
Katrina never made landfall, but it caused two deaths and about US$8.66 million in damage. In the Solomon Islands, heavy rain and 10 m waves destroyed 450 homes on Rennell and Bellona and 200 on southern Guadalcanal, forcing evacuations. A man drowned while fishing in Vanuatu. In Queensland, cyclone watches were issued between Cape Melville and Bowen for communities still recovering from flooding, though these were cancelled by 20 January. Willis Island recorded 443.2 mm of rain. The name Katrina was subsequently retired.
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia
View full track data (96 observations)
| Date/Time (UTC) | Category | Position | Pressure | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-01-01 12:00:00 | 1 | -14.6, 151.1 | 1000 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 1998-01-01 18:00:00 | 1 | -14.9, 151.6 | 1000 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1998-01-02 00:00:00 | 1 | -15.0, 152.0 | 1000 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1998-01-02 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.5, 152.5 | 1000 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1998-01-02 12:00:00 | 1 | -16.0, 153.3 | 1000 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1998-01-02 18:00:00 | 1 | -16.7, 153.2 | 998 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1998-01-03 00:00:00 | 1 | -16.9, 152.3 | 995 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1998-01-03 06:00:00 | 1 | -16.4, 151.9 | 995 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1998-01-03 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.7, 151.8 | 995 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1998-01-03 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.1, 152.3 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-04 00:00:00 | 1 | -14.9, 152.7 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-04 06:00:00 | 1 | -14.9, 153.1 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-04 12:00:00 | 1 | -14.9, 153.5 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-04 18:00:00 | 1 | -14.9, 153.8 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-05 00:00:00 | 1 | -15.2, 154.4 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-05 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.4, 155.1 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-05 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.2, 155.7 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-05 18:00:00 | 1 | -14.8, 156.4 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-06 00:00:00 | 1 | -14.5, 156.9 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-06 06:00:00 | 1 | -14.2, 157.5 | 990 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1998-01-06 12:00:00 | 1 | -13.7, 158.3 | 990 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1998-01-06 18:00:00 | 1 | -13.2, 159.0 | 985 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1998-01-07 00:00:00 | 1 | -12.7, 159.7 | 980 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1998-01-07 06:00:00 | 1 | -12.6, 161.0 | 975 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1998-01-07 12:00:00 | 1 | -12.8, 161.8 | 975 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1998-01-07 18:00:00 | 1 | -13.1, 162.2 | 975 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1998-01-08 00:00:00 | 1 | -13.5, 163.0 | 975 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1998-01-08 06:00:00 | 1 | -14.1, 163.9 | 975 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1998-01-08 12:00:00 | 1 | -14.5, 164.5 | 975 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1998-01-08 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.0, 164.5 | 975 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1998-01-09 00:00:00 | 1 | -15.2, 164.7 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-09 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.7, 164.9 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-09 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.8, 165.0 | 965 hPa | 36 km/h |
| 1998-01-09 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.8, 164.7 | 960 hPa | 41 km/h |
| 1998-01-10 00:00:00 | 1 | -15.7, 164.3 | 955 hPa | 41 km/h |
| 1998-01-10 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.5, 164.0 | 950 hPa | 41 km/h |
| 1998-01-10 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.4, 163.2 | 950 hPa | 41 km/h |
| 1998-01-10 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.0, 162.5 | 955 hPa | 39 km/h |
| 1998-01-11 00:00:00 | 1 | -14.8, 162.0 | 960 hPa | 39 km/h |
| 1998-01-11 06:00:00 | 1 | -14.5, 161.0 | 965 hPa | 36 km/h |
| 1998-01-11 12:00:00 | 1 | -14.2, 160.2 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-11 18:00:00 | 1 | -13.9, 159.9 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-12 00:00:00 | 1 | -13.4, 159.8 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-12 06:00:00 | 1 | -13.2, 159.6 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-12 12:00:00 | 1 | -13.3, 158.7 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-12 18:00:00 | 1 | -13.6, 158.0 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-13 00:00:00 | 1 | -13.7, 157.2 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-13 06:00:00 | 1 | -13.9, 156.3 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-13 12:00:00 | 1 | -13.8, 155.4 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-13 18:00:00 | 1 | -13.7, 154.3 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-14 00:00:00 | 1 | -13.7, 153.3 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-14 06:00:00 | 1 | -13.6, 152.4 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-14 12:00:00 | 1 | -13.6, 151.6 | 970 hPa | 36 km/h |
| 1998-01-14 18:00:00 | 1 | -13.7, 150.2 | 955 hPa | 41 km/h |
| 1998-01-15 00:00:00 | 1 | -13.7, 150.2 | 955 hPa | 41 km/h |
| 1998-01-15 06:00:00 | 1 | -13.6, 150.0 | 945 hPa | 44 km/h |
| 1998-01-15 12:00:00 | 1 | -14.0, 149.7 | 940 hPa | 46 km/h |
| 1998-01-15 18:00:00 | 1 | -14.5, 149.4 | 940 hPa | 46 km/h |
| 1998-01-16 00:00:00 | 1 | -15.1, 149.1 | 940 hPa | 46 km/h |
| 1998-01-16 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.3, 149.2 | 950 hPa | 41 km/h |
| 1998-01-16 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.7, 149.0 | 960 hPa | 41 km/h |
| 1998-01-16 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.8, 149.0 | 965 hPa | 39 km/h |
| 1998-01-17 00:00:00 | 1 | -16.1, 148.9 | 970 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1998-01-17 06:00:00 | 1 | -16.4, 148.6 | 980 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1998-01-17 12:00:00 | 1 | -16.6, 148.3 | 980 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1998-01-17 18:00:00 | 1 | -16.3, 148.4 | 985 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1998-01-18 00:00:00 | 1 | -16.6, 149.0 | 985 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1998-01-18 06:00:00 | 1 | -16.7, 149.3 | 985 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1998-01-18 12:00:00 | 1 | -16.7, 149.7 | 985 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1998-01-18 18:00:00 | 1 | -16.8, 149.9 | 980 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1998-01-19 00:00:00 | 1 | -17.1, 150.1 | 980 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1998-01-19 06:00:00 | 1 | -17.3, 150.8 | 980 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-19 12:00:00 | 1 | -17.6, 151.5 | 980 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1998-01-19 18:00:00 | 1 | -17.9, 152.1 | 980 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1998-01-20 00:00:00 | 1 | -18.4, 152.6 | 980 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1998-01-20 06:00:00 | 1 | -19.4, 153.0 | 970 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1998-01-20 12:00:00 | 1 | -20.1, 154.0 | 970 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1998-01-20 18:00:00 | 1 | -20.5, 154.0 | 980 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1998-01-21 00:00:00 | 1 | -21.0, 154.1 | 980 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1998-01-21 06:00:00 | 1 | -21.5, 154.5 | 980 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-21 12:00:00 | 1 | -21.9, 154.9 | 985 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-21 18:00:00 | 1 | -21.9, 155.2 | 985 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-22 00:00:00 | 1 | -22.0, 155.4 | 985 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-22 06:00:00 | 1 | -21.8, 155.9 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-22 12:00:00 | 1 | -21.6, 156.1 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-22 18:00:00 | 1 | -21.0, 156.2 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-23 00:00:00 | 1 | -20.4, 156.1 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1998-01-23 06:00:00 | 1 | -19.7, 155.2 | 990 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1998-01-23 12:00:00 | 1 | -19.0, 154.8 | 990 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1998-01-23 18:00:00 | 1 | -18.5, 154.4 | 990 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1998-01-24 00:00:00 | 1 | -18.1, 153.9 | 995 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1998-01-24 06:00:00 | 1 | -18.0, 153.1 | 995 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1998-01-24 12:00:00 | 1 | -18.1, 153.0 | 995 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 1998-01-24 18:00:00 | 1 | -18.3, 152.7 | 998 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1998-01-25 00:00:00 | 1 | -18.5, 152.4 | 998 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1998-01-25 06:00:00 | 1 | -18.5, 152.0 | 998 hPa | 15 km/h |