2020 South Pacific and Australian region season

11 storms formed in the South Pacific and Australian region basin in 2020, from 22 November 2019 to 11 April 2020.

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Years2020
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 2020 season in numbers

The record holds 11 storms for the 2020 South Pacific and Australian region season, of which 9 had names.11 reached tropical storm strength (34 knots or more), 6 reached cyclone strength (category 1 or more) and 1 were major (category 3 or more).

  • 11storms
  • 11tropical storm strength or more
  • 6cyclone strength or more
  • 1major (category 3 to 5)
  • 67accumulated 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 2020

  • Harold (2020)1 April 2020 to 11 April 2020, peak Category 5 (145 kt), 920 hPa
  • Tino (2020)15 January 2020 to 20 January 2020, peak Category 2 (85 kt), 970 hPa
  • Uesi (2020)6 February 2020 to 17 February 2020, peak Category 1 (80 kt), 975 hPa
  • Sarai (2020)24 December 2019 to 2 January 2020, peak Category 1 (75 kt), 971 hPa
  • Rita (2020)22 November 2019 to 29 November 2019, peak Category 1 (70 kt), 980 hPa

All 11 storms of 2020

StormPeak
Rita Category 1
Sarai Category 1
Tino Category 2
Unnamed storm Tropical storm
Uesi Category 1
Vicky Tropical storm
Wasi Tropical storm
Esther Tropical storm
Gretel Category 1
Unnamed storm Tropical storm
Harold Category 5

← 2019 · 2021 → · All seasons

Other basins in 2020

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