page_title: Cyclone Ula
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Cyclone Ula / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: English: Track map of Severe Tropical Cyclone Ula of the 2015-16 South Pacific cyclone season. The points show the location of the storm at 6-hour intervals. The colour represents the storm's maximum sustained wind speeds as classified in the Saffir–Simpson scale (see below), and the shape of the data points represent the nature of the storm, according to the legend below. Saffir–Simpson scale Tropical depression≤38 mph≤62 km/h Category 3111–129 mph178–208 km/h Tropical storm39–73 mph63–118 km/h Category 4130–156 mph209–251 km/h Category 174–95 mph119–153 km/h Category 5≥157 mph≥252 km/h Category 296–110 mph154–177 km/h Unknown Storm type Tropical cyclone Subtropical cyclone Extratropical cyclone / Remnant low / Tropical disturbance / Monsoon depression
context_page_description: Severe Tropical Cyclone Ula was a powerful and long-lived tropical cyclone during late December 2015 and mid-January 2016. It originated from a tropical disturbance on December 26, 2015, east of the Solomon Islands. Moving generally east, development was initially slow and the system finally reached cyclone strength—having gale-force winds—on December 30. The newly christened Tropical Cyclone Ula turned sharply south and rapidly intensified, attaining hurricane-strength the following day. A shift to the southwest brought the system close to the northern islands of Tonga on January 2, 2016. It subsequently brushed several islands in the Lau Group of Fiji before weakening. Nearly degrading to a tropical depression, Ula turned to the northwest and regained strength. After turning back to the southwest, it achieved its peak intensity as a Category 4 on the Australian scale with winds of 185 km/h on January 10. Thereafter, the storm bypassed Vanuatu to the southeast and New Caledonia to the east as it accelerated southward.
  Throughout its existence, Ula affected several nations but its effects were largely limited, with only localized areas reporting damage.
context_section_description: On December 26, 2015, Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) began monitoring a poorly organized tropical disturbance, dubbed 05F, to the east of the Solomon Islands. Tracking east, the system struggled to develop within a highly sheared environment. By December 29, the system was centered roughly 230 km (145 mi) northeast of Pago Pago, American Samoa, and had developed a low-level circulation accompanied by persistent convection. Development hastened throughout the day, with banding features forming and upper-level outflow becoming established over the system. The system soon acquired gale-force and the FMS upgraded the system to a tropical depression at 21:00 UTC.
  Ula moved to the south and eventually west as the system intensified. By January 2, Ula had attained hurricane strength as the storm was upgraded into a Category 2 Tropical Cyclone. Ula has subsequently attained a preliminary peak intensity at Category 3 tropical cyclone status, equivalent to Category 2 hurricane status. Ula weakened afterwards, only to re-intensify to category 3 status again the next day. By January 7, however, Ula turned northwest, slowed and dropped to tropical cyclone status. With the unfavorable conditions, Ula remained at that status for three days. On January 10, Ula rapidly re-intensified to a peak intensity of 115 mph (ten-minute sustained) or 140 mph (one-minute sustained) winds. This constituted as peak intensity and Ula was upgraded to category 4 severe tropical cyclone status, and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center upgraded Ula to a category 4 cyclone. Ula kept category 4 status for 24 hours before an abrupt weakening to a tropical depression. By 12:00 UTC on January 12, Ula transitioned into an extratropical cyclone.
caption: Map plotting the track and the intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
exif: {}