List of Category 3 South Pacific severe tropical cyclones

The South Pacific tropical cyclone basin is located to the south of the Equator between 160°E and 120°W.[1] The basin is officially monitored by the Fiji Meteorological Service and the New Zealand MetService, while other meteorological services such as the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Meteo France as well as the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center also monitor the basin.[1] Within the basin a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone is a tropical cyclone that has 10-minute mean maximum sustained wind speeds of 64–85 knots (119–157 km/h; 74–98 mph) on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale.[1][2] A named storm could also be classified as a Category 3 tropical cyclone if it is estimated, to have 1-minute mean maximum sustained wind speeds of between 96–112 knots (178–207 km/h; 110–129 mph) on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.[1][3] This scale is only officially used in American Samoa, however, various agencies including NASA also use it to compare tropical cyclones.[1] A Category 3 tropical cyclone is expected to cause catastrophic devastation, if it significantly impacts land at or near its peak intensity.[2][3]

In addition to the 19 tropical cyclones listed above Severe Tropical Cyclone's: Harry, Rewa and Yasi, all became Category 5 Severe tropical cyclones within the South Pacific Ocean, after they had moved into the Australian region.[118][119][120]

In addition to the systems listed above, Severe Tropical Cyclone's Bebe, Gyan, Abigail, Nisha-Orama, Oscar, Tomasi, Veena, Uma, Bola, Wasa-Arthur, Joni, Sarah, Beti, Kim, Paula, Waka, Eseta, Ivy, Daman, Funa, Freda and Hola were all considered to have 1-minute sustained wind speeds equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane on the SSHWS by the JTWC.

Within the official database for the region, as provided by the BoM, FMS and MetService, a total of XX tropical cyclones have been categorised as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone. The earliest of these was Severe Tropical Cyclone Pam, which was estimated to have been a Category 5 severe tropical cyclone after a reanalysis of the data was performed by the BoM.[121] The strongest and most intense of these was Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston of the 2015-16 season, which was estimated to have 10-minute sustained wind speeds of 280 km/h (175 mph) and a minimum pressure of 884 hPa (26.10 inHg) at its peak intensity. Severe Tropical Cyclone Susan maintained its Category 5 status for around 72 hours and was the system that maintained its Category 5 status the longest.

• List of Category 3 Atlantic hurricanes
• List of Category 3 Pacific hurricanes

• World Meteorological Organization
• Australian Bureau of Meteorology
• Fiji Meteorological Service
• New Zealand MetService
• Joint Typhoon Warning Center