- Also called:
- Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston
- Date:
- February 2016
Cyclone Winston
What was Cyclone Winston?
What impact did Cyclone Winston have on Fiji?
What role did El Niño play in Cyclone Winston?
What were the economic impacts of Cyclone Winston on Fiji?
Cyclone Winston, severe tropical cyclone that developed in the South Pacific Ocean in February 2016 and the most powerful tropical cyclone on record in the Southern Hemisphere, with sustained winds reaching 185 miles (300 km) per hour. The cyclone made landfall in Fiji, though Tonga, Vanuatu, Kiribati, and Niue were also impacted by the weather conditions it precipitated. Winston was responsible for 44 deaths and left widespread destruction across Fiji’s islands, amounting to estimated damages of about $2 billion–3 billion (Fijian) (then about $923 million–1.4 billion [U.S.]), making it the costliest natural disaster in the country’s history.
Origin and early track
A tropical depression identified as 09F by the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) originated in the southwest Pacific Ocean near Vanuatu on February 7, 2016. The system moved south-southeast through warm waters that provided it with the requisite low pressure to organize, prompting FMS to upgrade the system to a tropical cyclone on February 11, naming it Winston. About 185 miles (300 km) east of Vanuatu’s Éfaté island, the cyclone gained in strength and continued moving south up to a point about 500 miles (800 km) southwest of Fiji on February 14, when it started curving northeast. It lost strength as it approached a point northwest of the island country of Tonga, where its high winds and rain caused damage to homes, and briefly weakened as vertical wind shear (a rapid change in wind speed or direction) disrupted its structure. It appeared to track harmlessly toward the east Pacific until February 17, when it was about 220 miles (350 km) northeast of Tonga’s northern tip. However, the cyclone suddenly tracked westward around this point the next day, spurred by ridges of high pressure to the north and east, blocking its path into the eastern Pacific. Warm waters (about 88 °F [31 °C]) and a weak wind shear allowed Winston to rapidly regain strength as it began to move due east toward Fiji.
By February 20 Winston’s sustained winds had reached 180 miles (290 km) per hour, and its central pressure had dropped to a low 884 millibars, making it the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere.
Landfall
Reintensified and moving east with gust speeds in excess of 185 miles per hour (300 km/h), Winston passed over Fiji’s Vanua Balavu island on February 19. It made landfall on Koro Island the next day. Villages on Koro suffered heavy damage, with homes in many villages caving in under the sheer force of the wind and rain. Many economically important crops, such as the time-intensive kava, which is used to produce a popular local beverage, were ruined by flooding. TheLau group, Taveuni, and Rabi, small outlying islands, also witnessed considerable destruction in the wake of the storm.
Cyclone Winston also made a second landfall on Fiji’s principal island of Viti Levu on February 20. It uprooted trees and caused severe damage to homes and public infrastructure with maximum gusts exceeding 200 mph (320 km/h). Storm surges pushed waves more than 40 feet (12 meters) high, inundating coastal regions and causing flooding as far inland as 660 feet (200 meters). Many areas of the country faced power disruption, and more than 60,000 people were evacuated to emergency shelters.
Although local conditions, such as interference from ridges and favorable upper-atmospheric pressure, contributed to Cyclone Winston’s dramatic intensification, the storm’s organization and trajectory also reflected broader climatic influences. One such factor was the El Niño event of 2015–16, one of the strongest on record. El Niño is a phenomenon that recurs every few years and warms the eastern Pacific near the west coast of South America. These warm ocean conditions are potent enough to cause far-ranging changes in temperature and pressure in the Pacific Ocean close to the Equator. Scientists also believe the impact of the already intense event may have been exacerbated by climate change caused by global warming.
Forty-four people died in Fiji because of the cyclone and the flooding it caused. The damage caused by the storm ranged between 20 and 31 percent of Fiji’s gross domestic product (the main measure of a country’s economic activity) at the time. Tens of thousands of residents lost their homes to the storm, and about 130 were injured. Damages also rendered as many as 88 hospitals in the country inoperable, worsening the toll of diseases and injuries. About 340,000 people were affected by the storm, then about 40 percent of Fiji’s population. The widespread effects of the storm prompted the government to implement the Shelter Cluster Fiji initiative. The Shelter Cluster is an international body that coordinates with agents across the world, including governments and bodies such as the International Federation of the Red Cross, to facilitate humanitarian aid in times of crisis. This was only the second time the initiative was implemented in Fiji, four years after its use for Cyclone Evan.
Aftermath
Cyclone Winston passed beyond Fiji on February 22. Curving south-southeast and then due west two days later, it downgraded into a subtropical depression (a low-pressure system just outside the tropical zones) about February 27 in the Coral Sea off the east coast of Australia. Fiji would continue to reel under the economic and health care effects long afterward, with the government extending its implementation of a state of natural disaster for about 60 days from the date of Winston’s landfall to recover from the storm’s long-term consequences for infrastructure. Agricultural losses in particular also contributed to widespread food insecurity in the country.
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The name “Winston” was retired from the list of South Pacific tropical cyclone names due to the storm’s catastrophic impact. The event prompted renewed discussions on climate resilience, housing standards, and disaster preparedness in Pacific island nations.