Cyclone Daman

Cyclone Daman

Severe Tropical Cyclone Daman (RSMC Nadi designation 04F, JTWC designation 05P) was the strongest cyclone of the 2007–08 South Pacific cyclone season. Cyclone Daman was the fourth tropical depression and the first severe tropical cyclone to form west of longitude 160°E during the 2007–08 South Pacific cyclone season. Due to the severity of the storm, the name Daman was retired and replaced with Denia.

On December 3, the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) in Nadi, Fiji, upgraded a tropical disturbance, located to the west of the Solomon Islands, to Tropical Depression 04F. On December 5, as the depression moved towards the west into the Fijian archipelago, both the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and RSMC Nadi upgraded it to Cyclone Daman. On December 7 the cyclone reached its peak intensity with winds of 185 km/h, (115 mph ) which made Daman a Category 4 cyclone on the Australian Tropical Cyclone Intensity Scale. Later that day Daman also reached its peak intensity by 1-minute means with winds of 205 km/h (125 mph) which made it a Category 3 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Early on December 8, Cyclone Daman brushed by the Fijian island of Cikobia, causing damage to housing, crops and vegetation. Daman then weakened the next day into a tropical depression and dissipated on December 10.