1984–85 South Pacific cyclone season

Seasonal summary

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DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/12/1984 till:01/04/1985 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/12/1984

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During November and December no significant tropical cyclones developed in or moved into the basin in the region,

The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Pierre were last noted during 24 February, as they moved into the basin from the Australian region.

Systems

Unnamed tropical cyclone

|10-min winds=45 |1-min winds=45 An unnamed tropical cyclone existed from December 26 to December 28.

Tropical Cyclone Monica

|10-min winds=60 |1-min winds=55 Tropical Cyclone Monica existed from December 29 to December 30.

Tropical Cyclone Drena

|10-min winds=45 |1-min winds=50 Tropical Cyclone Drena existed from January 9 to January 16.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Eric

|10-min winds=80 |1-min winds=100 Main article: Cyclone Eric

On January 13, TCWC Nadi started to monitor a shallow depression that had developed within the monsoon trough about 450 mi to the west of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. Over the next day the system moved eastwards and developed further as gale-force winds developed near the systems centre before the JTWC initiated advisories on the system and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 11P during January 14. The system was subsequently named Eric by TCWC Nadi as it moved closer to Espiritu Santo and became equivalent to a category 1 tropical cyclone. During January 15, Eric passed near or over Espiritu Santo, as it continued to intensify before it turned and accelerated south-eastwards. Eric subsequently became equivalent to a category 3 severe tropical cyclone early the next day, before an Air Pacific flight from Fiji to the Solomon Islands located the systems eye on radar.

During January 17, Eric's well defined eye came into the range of Nadi airports surveillance radar, before TCWC Nadi estimated that Eric had peaked with 10-minute sustained wind-speeds of 150 km/h (90 mph). During that day Eric's eye seemed to contract to around 10 mi as it made passed through Fiji's Western Division and made landfall on the Fijian main island of Viti Levu about 5 mi to the south of Nadi. After the system had made landfall, the JTWC estimated that Eric had peaked with 1-minute sustained wind speeds of 185 km/h (115 mph), which made it equivalent to a category 3 hurricane on the SSHWS.The system subsequently passed near or over Fiji's capital: Suva before emerging into the Korro Sea and weakening. Eric subsequently passed through the Tonga's Ha'apai islands just to the south of Nomuka during January 18, before it gradually weakened and was last noted during January 20, over 1800 km to the south of Papeete, French Polynesia.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Nigel

|10-min winds=80 |1-min winds=105 Main article: Cyclone Nigel

Late on January 16, Tropical Cyclone Nigel moved into the South Pacific basin from the Australian region. During the next day the system continued to move eastwards and developed an eye, before it became equivalent to a modern-day category 3 severe tropical cyclone.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Odette

|10-min winds=90 |1-min winds=90

At around 1300 UTC on January 19, Severe Tropical Cyclone Odette moved into the South Pacific Basin from the Australian Region.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Freda

|10-min winds=80 |1-min winds=80

During January 26, the FMS reported that a depression was located within the vicinity of the Southern Cook Islands about 150 km to the west-northwest of the island of Aitutaki.

Tropical Cyclone Gavin

Main article: Cyclone Gavin (1985)

|10-min winds=50 |1-min winds=55

During March 2, the Fiji Meteorological Service reported that a tropical depression had developed within a monsoon trough, in between Espiritu Santo and Rotuma about 450 km to the northwest of Fiji. Over the next couple of days, the system gradually developed further as it moved southwards, while moderate to strong winds were recorded in Vanuatu's southern islands of Aneityum and Tanna. During March 4, the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center initiated advisories on the depression and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 27P, while the system was located about 300 km to the northeast of Port Vila in Vanuatu. Later that day the FMS named the system Gavin, after it had become equivalent to a category 1 tropical cyclone on the modern day Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale. At this time, Gavin was estimated to have an unusually large area of gale-force winds, with winds extending out to about 550 km in its northern semicircle and 280 km in its southern semicircle. During March 5, the system intensified slightly and attained storm-force winds as it moved south-eastwards, before the FMS reported that Gavin had peaked as a category 2 tropical cyclone with 10-minute sustained winds of 95 km/h (60 mph). Over the next couple of days, as the system moved south-eastwards brushed Fiji, there were no significant changes in Gavin's intensity, however, the wider area of gales moved into the system's semicircle. During March 7, the JTWC reported that the system had peaked with 1-minute sustained wind speeds of 100 km/h (65 mph), before Gavin started to weaken and lose its tropical characteristics, as it accelerated south-eastwards towards higher latitudes. Later that day, the FMS handed the primary warning responsibility for the system to the New Zealand Meteorological Service (NZMS), after Gavin had moved out of their area of responsibility. During March 8, the NZMS reported that the system had become an extratropical depression after it had lost most of its tropical characteristics, before it was last noted during the following day, while it was located about 2100 km to the southeast of Wellington in New Zealand.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Hina

|10-min winds=120 |1-min winds=135

Hina was one of the most intense tropical cyclones ever recorded in the South Pacific basin. Having a distinct rainband and well defined outflow with low wind shear and warm water temperature, Hina underwent a period of Explosive Deepening (rapid intensification) The storm continued southward. Due to unfavorable conditions and an approaching Eyewall Replacement Cycle, the storm weakened into a tropical storm. As its center became ill-defined, the storm lost winds of tropical storm force and weakened into a tropical depression. The remnants dissipated some time later.

Other system

According to the JTWC, Tropical Depression 08P formed on 26 December. On 28 December, 08P reached tropical storm status, and would later dissipate south of Fiji.

Season effects

This table lists all the storms that developed in the South Pacific basin during the 1984–85 season. It includes their intensity on the Australian Tropical cyclone intensity scale, duration, name, areas affected, deaths, and damages.

|- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#|45 kn || bgcolor=#|987 hPa || || || || |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#|60 kn || bgcolor=#|975 hPa || New Caledonia || || || |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#|45 kn || bgcolor=#|987 hPa || || || || |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#|80 kn || bgcolor=#|955 hPa || Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga || rowspan=2| || rowspan=2| ||rowspan=2| |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#|40 kn || bgcolor=#|955 hPa || Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#|90 kn || bgcolor=#|960 hPa || Vanuatu || Minor || || |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#|80 kn || bgcolor=#|955 hPa || || || || |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#|50 kn || bgcolor=#|985 hPa || Vanuatu, Fiji || || 7 || |- | || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#|120 kn || bgcolor=#|910 hPa || Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji || || 3 || |-

References

References

1. "Tropical Cyclone Pierre". Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
2. ["1985 Tropical Cyclone Pierre (1985049S12143)"]({{IBTRACS url). International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship.
3. (1985). "Hurricane Alley: Tropical Cyclones — January 1985". United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
4. Joint Typhoon Warning Center. (1986). "Annual Tropical Cyclone Report: 1985". United States Navy, United States Air Force.
5. ["1985 Tropical Cyclone Eric (1985012S16161)"]({{IBTRACS url). International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship.
6. Prasad, Rajendra. (April 11, 1985). "Preliminary Report: Tropical Cyclone Gavin". Fiji Meteorological Service.
7. (September 1985). "Cyclone Season: 1984 - 1985". Vanuatu Meteorological Department.
8. ["1985 Tropical Cyclone Gavin (1985062S15170)"]({{IBTRACS url). International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship.
9. (2010-10-10). "Summary of Major Disasters in Fiji 1985 – March 2010". Fiji National disaster management office.