Cyclone Keli

Severe Tropical Cyclone Keli

Category 3 severe tropical cyclone (Aus scale)
Category 4 (Saffir–Simpson scale)
Cyclone Keli at peak intensity
Formed	June 7, 1997
Dissipated	June 17, 1997
Highest winds	10-minute sustained: 150 km/h (90 mph) 1-minute sustained: 215 km/h (130 mph)
Lowest pressure	955 hPa (mbar); 28.2 inHg
Fatalities	None reported
Damage	$10,000 (1997 USD)
Areas affected	Tokelau, Tuvalu, Fiji
Part of the 1996–97 South Pacific cyclone season

Severe Tropical Cyclone Keli (NPMOC/JTWC Designation: 38P) was the first recorded post-season tropical cyclone to form in June within the South Pacific Ocean. The system formed on June 7, 1997, about 460 kilometers (285 mi) to the north of Tokelau. The depression gradually developed over the next few days while moving southwestward. It was designated as Tropical Cyclone Keli early the next day. Cyclone Keli intensified, slowly reaching its 10-minute peak wind speeds of 150 km/h, (90 mph), which made it a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian Tropical Cyclone Intensity Scale. As it came under the influence of strong mid latitude westerlies and moved into an area of strong vertical wind shear, the cyclone started to weaken and was declared as extratropical on June 15.

Cyclone Keli struck the islands of Tuvalu on June 12 and 13, with extensive damage reported throughout the Islands with trees uprooted by wind and waves. On Nivalakita, all buildings except for the church were flattened; an estimated cost to rebuild all of the houses as they were before the cyclone hit was estimated at A$12 thousand (US$10 thousand), while it was estimated that the cost of rebuilding the houses with an improved, cyclone-resistant design would be about A$84 thousand (US$63 thousand). The whole of Tepuka Savilivili was left uninhabitable, as coconut trees and other vegetation were swept away with no more than an area of jagged coral left behind. In Fiji, strong winds and rough seas were reported from the cyclone as it was moving to the north of Fiji, and while the cyclone was weakening it dropped 3.76 inches (95.5mm) of rain on American Samoa.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Keli was first noted as a depression, to the northeast of the New Zealand territory of Tokelau during June 7, 1997. Over the next couple of days the system moved towards the south-west and gradually developed further, with the United States Naval Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Center (NPMOC) issuing a tropical cyclone formation alert for the system during June 9.