Cyclone Ula
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 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. Dozens of structures were damaged or destroyed in Tuvalu while crops in Tonga, Fiji, and Vanuatu were impacted. No fatalities have been attributed to the storm, though one person was swept out to sea in American Samoa and was not found. Residents across the Lau Islands of Fiji required food security due to crop losses.
Meteorological history
In late December 2015, a long-lived and powerful westerly wind burst triggered the formation of a tropical disturbance in the south Pacific, along with its twin in the central North Pacific, which became Tropical Depression Nine-C. On December 26, 2015, Fiji Meteorological Service began monitoring the 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 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 or 140 mph 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.