Hurricane History Map

1979 South Pacific and Australian region season

12 storms formed in the South Pacific and Australian region basin in 1979, from 24 December 1978 to 17 April 1979.

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Years1979
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 1979 season in numbers

The record holds 12 storms for the 1979 South Pacific and Australian region season, of which 10 had names.10 reached tropical storm strength (34 knots or more), 4 reached cyclone strength (category 1 or more) and 2 were major (category 3 or more). 2 have no wind speed in the record.

  • 12storms
  • 10tropical storm strength or more
  • 4cyclone strength or more
  • 2major (category 3 to 5)
  • 93accumulated 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 1979

  • Meli (1979)24 March 1979 to 31 March 1979, peak Category 4 (115 kt), 945 hPa
  • Kerry (1979)11 February 1979 to 5 March 1979, peak Category 3 (105 kt), 980 hPa
  • Rosa (1979)12 February 1979 to 4 March 1979, peak Category 2 (95 kt), 975 hPa
  • Gordon (1979)2 January 1979 to 12 January 1979, peak Category 1 (75 kt), 965 hPa
  • Fay (1979)24 December 1978 to 31 December 1978, peak Tropical storm (63 kt), 980 hPa

All 12 storms of 1979

StormPeak
Fay Tropical storm
Peter Tropical storm
Gordon Category 1
Greta Tropical storm
Henry Tropical storm
Unnamed storm Tropical storm
Kerry Category 3
Rosa Category 2
Leslie Tropical storm
Meli Category 4
Unnamed storm Unknown intensity
Stan Unknown intensity

← 1978 · 1980 → · All seasons

Other basins in 1979

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