The 1997 Tropical Cyclone Season in the Marshall Islands was unusually active. Thirty-three tropical cyclones were reported in the Western North Pacific in 1997. Ten of these Tropical Cyclones passed within 300 nautical miles of the Kwajalein Atoll area. Ten of these Tropical Cyclones reached Super Typhoon status while in the Western Pacific. This paper will review the storms, their impact on the Marshall Islands, and their relationship to sea surface temperature and wind pattern anomalies associated with the 1997-98 ENSO event.
Several mesoscale features of the tropical cyclones were monitored by the DWSR-93S Doppler Radar (on Kwajalein) including the development and passage of Typhoon Paka. A detailed description of the intensification and impact of Paka on the Marshall Islands will be included. This presentation will include a doppler radar loop covering 44 hours of the eye of Paka as it tracked westward passing 83 nautical miles south-southwest of Kwajalein on 12 December