Cyclone Winston

Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston

Cyclone Winston at record peak intensity on 20 February, just before making landfall in Fiji
Meteorological history
Formed	7 February 2016
Extratropical	25 February 2016
Dissipated	3 March 2016
Category 5 severe tropical cyclone
10-minute sustained (FMS)
Highest winds	280 km/h (175 mph)
Lowest pressure	884 hPa (mbar); 26.10 inHg (Official record low in the Southern Hemisphere; global record low at landfall)
Category 5-equivalent tropical cyclone
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/JTWC)
Highest winds	285 km/h (180 mph)
Lowest pressure	907 hPa (mbar); 26.78 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities	44 total
Damage	$1.4 billion (2016 USD) (Second-costliest cyclone in the South Pacific basin)
Areas affected	Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Niue, Queensland
IBTrACS
Part of the 2015–16 South Pacific and Australian region cyclone seasons

Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that became the most intense in the Southern Hemisphere on record, as well as the strongest to make landfall on record, and the most intense and longest lasting tropical cyclone worldwide in 2016. Winston was, at the time, the costliest tropical cyclone on record in the South Pacific basin, until it was surpassed by Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.^[1] The system was first noted as a tropical disturbance on 7 February 2016, when it was located to the northwest of Port Vila, Vanuatu. Over the next few days, the system gradually developed as it moved southeast, acquiring gale-force winds by 11 February. The following day, it underwent rapid intensification and attained ten-minute maximum sustained winds of 175 km/h (109 mph). Less favourable environmental conditions prompted weakening thereafter. After turning northeast on 14 February, Winston stalled to the north of Tonga on 17 February. Due to a change in higher level steering, the storm drifted back to the west. In the process, Winston again rapidly intensified, reaching Category 5 intensity on both the Australian tropical cyclone scale and the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale on 19 February. The storm passed directly over Vanua Balavu, where a national record wind gust of 306 km/h (190 mph) was observed.

The cyclone reached its peak intensity on 20 February, with ten-minute sustained winds of 280 km/h (170 mph) and a pressure of 884 hPa (mbar; 26.10 inHg), shortly before making landfall on Viti Levu, Fiji.^[2] Thereafter, the storm slowly weakened within a less favourable environment; the system turned southeast during this time, though remained well away from Fiji. It later degenerated into a remnant low, with some subtropical characteristics, on 24 February as it turned to the west and later northwest. The system persisted for more than a week over the Coral Sea before ultimately moving over Queensland, Australia and dissipating on 3 March, 26 days after being classified a tropical disturbance.

In advance of the storm's arrival in Fiji, numerous shelters were opened, and a nationwide curfew was instituted during the evening of 20 February. Striking Fiji at Category 5 intensity on 20 February, Winston inflicted extensive damage on many islands and killed 44 people. Communications were temporarily lost with at least six islands, with some remaining isolated more than two days after the storm's passage. A total of 40,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and approximately 350,000 people—roughly 40 percent of Fiji's population—were significantly impacted by the storm. Total damage from Winston amounted to FJ$2.98 billion (US$1.4 billion). The nation's government declared a state of emergency on 20 February, which remained in place for 60 days. Immediately following the cyclone, the governments of Australia and New Zealand provided logistical support and relief packages. In the following weeks, a coalition of international support, including intergovernmental agencies, brought tens of millions of dollars in aid and hundreds of tons of supplies to residents in Fiji.