2002-03 South Pacific cyclone season
Encyclopedia
Late on July 3, RSMC Nadi reported that Tropical Depression 17F had formed in area of moderate vertical windshear about 800 kilometres (497.1 mi) to the northwest of Honiara
in the Solomon Islands
. The depression had picked up convection during the previous 24 hours and organized with an upper anticyclonic circulation lying to the west of the depression. During the following 24 hours the system lost some of its organization as deep convection had decreased with RSMC Nadi issuing its final advisory early on July 5 as it approached the edge of its area of responsibility.
Despite being the first tropical depression of the 2002-03 tropical cyclone year, it was numbered using the last number from the previous tropical cyclone year. The reasons for this are not known.
Zoe caused catastrophic damage on several small islands in the south Pacific. There were no direct fatalities. Crops were heavily disrupted and took several years to recover. The name Zoe was later retired.
formed east of Tuvalu
within a broad monsoon trough
. Strong wind shear
prevented the low from immediately intensifying, although conditions quickly became more conducive to further development. On January 11, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center
(JTWC) remarked that the potential existed for the genesis of a significant tropical cyclone in light of ongoing convective
organization. Shortly thereafter, they declared the system Tropical Depression 10P, which was also classified Tropical Depression 05F by Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre
in Nadi, Fiji (Fiji Meteorological Service
). Thunderstorm activity began to significantly increase around the center of circulation, signaling steady strengthening. Tracking southwest, the storm was named Tropical Cyclone Ami at approximately 0000 UTC on January 12 under favorable upper-level diffluence facilitated by the nearby ridge
of high pressure.
Influenced by an upper-level trough, Ami slowed in forward movement and turned on a more southerly course. With minimal wind shear and a good outflow
pattern, Ami achieved severe tropical cyclone intensity at 0600 UTC on January 13. A poorly defined eye
feature became visible on satellite imagery, at which point the storm was situated around 160 mi (257.5 km) north-northeast of Labasa
. The cyclone made landfall on Vanua Levu
with a minimum barometric pressure of 960 millibars before subsequently crossing the western tip of Taveuni
. Broadly turning toward the southeast, Ami traversed the Lau Group. While located about 60 miles south of Lakeba
– at 0600 UTC on January 14 – the storm reached its peak intensity with 10-minute maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (144.8 km/h) and a pressure of 950 mb. At the same time, the JTWC assessed the storm with 1-minute winds of 125 mph (201.2 km/h).
Accelerating toward the southeast with forward speed reaching 40 mph (64.4 km/h), Ami began to gradually weaken due to resuming wind shear and increasingly cool waters. The cyclone interacted with a frontal boundary
, and in doing so it transitioned to an extratropical cyclone
. Ami lost all tropical characteristics by 1200 on January 15, although its remnants continued eastward to a point well south of Rarotonga
. By late in its life, the storm had exited the area of purview of the Fiji Meteorological Service and the Regional Specialized Meteorology Center in Wellington, New Zealand became responsible for tracking the storm.
The storm wrought widespread damage in Fiji, killing 17 people and leaving more than F$100 million (US$53.5 million) in losses.
in late January 2003, damaging houses in the archipelago before moving in a south-easterly direction along a course between Vanuatu
and New Caledonia
. After passing New Caledonia, the cyclone was downgraded into a low-pressure system and moved westwards towards the Australia
n mainland. Beni reformed off Mackay
, Queensland
on February 5, crossing the coast as a weak Category 1 system south of that city the following day. The cyclone dumped heavy rain in Central Queensland
, resulting in flash flooding which claimed the life of one person and resulted in a A$
10 million disaster bill.
Tropical Cyclone Cilla was the ninth wettest tropical cyclone to affect American Samoa
. Damage in Tonga
was mostly confined to vegetation and fruit bearing trees. The strongest sustained winds of 28 kn (55 km/h; 34 mph) and strongest gusts 58 kn (114 km/h; 71 mph) were recorded in the Ha'apai
island group. Power was lost on Lifuka
, the main island in the Ha'apai group for about three hours during the night of January 27 and Cyclone Cilla moved over central parts of Tonga. Communications were also affected but restored on January 28.
, later hitting New Caledonia
.
. On March 9 the storm was named Eseta, the seventh named storm of the 2002/03 South Pacific cyclone season. Moving south-southeast and then nearly due east, Eseta bypassed the Fiji
islands and strengthened into a Category 3 cyclone before becoming extratropical near Rarotonga
.
The storm caused flash flood
ing and moderate damage to banana crops in Tonga
. There were no deaths.
Cyclone Gina struck the island of Tikopia
that had sustained catastrophic damage from Cyclone Zoe
less than two months prior. The storm brought torrential rains and high winds that triggered landslides. Dozens of homes were damaged and many of the newly planted gardens in the recovery phase of Cyclone Zoe were destroyed. The impacts of Gina reportedly set back the recovery efforts for Zoe by nearly six months. A total of 112 newly-built houses and 128 newly-built kitchens were severely damaged and another 37 homes sustained minor damage. The newly planted winter crop was lost due to sea spray and 143 bags of rice, given as relief supplies from Cyclone Zoe, were lost. Following the storm, additional relief supplies and food were rushed to residents to ensure their safety. The new relief materials consisted of local foods, sago and mesh wiring, worth $14,400.
A ship carrying five people became stranded in the Coral Sea
during the storm when their engine failed on June 7. A mayday signal was put out by the captain but rough seas produced by the storm hampered rescue efforts. Later that day, two more people were discovered to have gone missing during the storm once the first five people were safely rescued.
of synoptic scale developing over warm waters are named whenever surface observations and/or Dvorak intensity analysis
indicates the presence of gale force
or stronger winds near the centre. Unlike the Atlantic standard
, an unnamed tropical system may have gales in one or more quadrants but not near the centre.
Tropical cyclones forming between 160°E
and 120°W
are assigned names by the Fiji Meteorological Service
. If a tropical cyclone forms in Wellington's area of responsibility, south of 25°S
, the cyclone will still be given a name from the Fiji list. No tropical cyclone has ever been observed in the South Pacific Ocean east of 120°W
, and if one forms in the future, it is unclear how it will be handled.
Names used in the South Pacific are used sequentially, unlike lists used in the Atlantic Ocean
and east Pacific Ocean
by the National Hurricane Centre. Only the names used during this cyclone season are listed below. The complete list of names are found in the World Meteorological Organization
's official list.
Note also that Cyclone Erica entered the region from the Coral Sea
in the Australian basin.
Honiara
Honiara, population 49,107 , 78,190 , is the capital of the Solomon Islands and of Guadalcanal Province, although it is a separately administered town...
in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
. The depression had picked up convection during the previous 24 hours and organized with an upper anticyclonic circulation lying to the west of the depression. During the following 24 hours the system lost some of its organization as deep convection had decreased with RSMC Nadi issuing its final advisory early on July 5 as it approached the edge of its area of responsibility.
Despite being the first tropical depression of the 2002-03 tropical cyclone year, it was numbered using the last number from the previous tropical cyclone year. The reasons for this are not known.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Zoe
A depression formed at the end of December. It quickly strengthened into one of the most intense tropical cyclones ever recorded with 10-minute average sustained winds of 130 knots. It eventually went extratropical.Zoe caused catastrophic damage on several small islands in the south Pacific. There were no direct fatalities. Crops were heavily disrupted and took several years to recover. The name Zoe was later retired.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Ami
By January 10, 2003, a low pressure areaLow pressure area
A low-pressure area, or "low", is a region where the atmospheric pressure at sea level is below that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure systems form under areas of wind divergence which occur in upper levels of the troposphere. The formation process of a low-pressure area is known as...
formed east of Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
within a broad monsoon trough
Monsoon trough
The monsoon trough is that portion of the Intertropical Convergence Zone which extends into or through a monsoon circulation, as depicted by a line on a weather map showing the locations of minimum sea level pressure, and as such, is a convergence zone between the wind patterns of the southern and...
. Strong wind shear
Wind shear
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
prevented the low from immediately intensifying, although conditions quickly became more conducive to further development. On January 11, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center
Joint Typhoon Warning Center
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force task force located at the Naval Maritime Forecast Center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii...
(JTWC) remarked that the potential existed for the genesis of a significant tropical cyclone in light of ongoing convective
Atmospheric convection
Atmospheric convection is the result of a parcel-environment instability, or temperature difference, layer in the atmosphere. Different lapse rates within dry and moist air lead to instability. Mixing of air during the day which expands the height of the planetary boundary layer leads to...
organization. Shortly thereafter, they declared the system Tropical Depression 10P, which was also classified Tropical Depression 05F by Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre
Regional Specialized Meteorological Center
A Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre is responsible for the distribution of information, advisories, and warnings regarding the specific program they have a part of, agreed by consensus at the World Meteorological Organization as part of the World Weather Watch.-Tropical...
in Nadi, Fiji (Fiji Meteorological Service
Fiji Meteorological Service
The Fiji Meteorological Service is a Department of the government of Fiji responsible for providing weather forecasts and is based in Nadi. Since 1995, FMS has been responsible for naming and tracking tropical cyclones in the Southwest Pacific region...
). Thunderstorm activity began to significantly increase around the center of circulation, signaling steady strengthening. Tracking southwest, the storm was named Tropical Cyclone Ami at approximately 0000 UTC on January 12 under favorable upper-level diffluence facilitated by the nearby ridge
Ridge (meteorology)
A ridge is an elongated region of relatively high atmospheric pressure, the opposite of a trough....
of high pressure.
Influenced by an upper-level trough, Ami slowed in forward movement and turned on a more southerly course. With minimal wind shear and a good outflow
Outflow (meteorology)
Outflow, in meteorology, is air that flows outwards from a storm system. It is associated with ridging, or anticyclonic flow. In the low levels of the troposphere, outflow radiates from thunderstorms in the form of a wedge of rain-cooled air, which is visible as a thin rope-like cloud on weather...
pattern, Ami achieved severe tropical cyclone intensity at 0600 UTC on January 13. A poorly defined eye
Eye (cyclone)
The eye is a region of mostly calm weather found at the center of strong tropical cyclones. The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area and typically 30–65 km in diameter. It is surrounded by the eyewall, a ring of towering thunderstorms where the second most severe weather of a cyclone...
feature became visible on satellite imagery, at which point the storm was situated around 160 mi (257.5 km) north-northeast of Labasa
Labasa
Labasa is a town in Fiji with a population of 27,949 at the most recent census held in 2007.Labasa is located in Macuata Province, in the north-eastern part of the island of Vanua Levu, and is the largest town on the island. The town itself is located on a delta formed by three rivers - the...
. The cyclone made landfall on Vanua Levu
Vanua Levu
Vanua Levu , formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located 64 kilometres to the north of the larger Viti Levu, the island has an area of 5,587.1 km² and a population of some 130,000.- Geography :...
with a minimum barometric pressure of 960 millibars before subsequently crossing the western tip of Taveuni
Taveuni
Taveuni is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Vanua Levu and Viti Levu, with a total land area of 435 square kilometers . The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated 6.5 kilometers to the east of Vanua Levu, across the...
. Broadly turning toward the southeast, Ami traversed the Lau Group. While located about 60 miles south of Lakeba
Lakeba
Lakeba is an island in Fiji's Southern Lau Archipelago; the provincial capital of Lau is located here. The island is the tenth largest in Fiji, with a land area of nearly 60 square kilometers. It is fertile and well watered, and encircled by a 29-kilometer road. Its closest neighbors are Aiwa...
– at 0600 UTC on January 14 – the storm reached its peak intensity with 10-minute maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (144.8 km/h) and a pressure of 950 mb. At the same time, the JTWC assessed the storm with 1-minute winds of 125 mph (201.2 km/h).
Accelerating toward the southeast with forward speed reaching 40 mph (64.4 km/h), Ami began to gradually weaken due to resuming wind shear and increasingly cool waters. The cyclone interacted with a frontal boundary
Weather front
A weather front is a boundary separating two masses of air of different densities, and is the principal cause of meteorological phenomena. In surface weather analyses, fronts are depicted using various colored lines and symbols, depending on the type of front...
, and in doing so it transitioned to an extratropical cyclone
Extratropical cyclone
Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are a group of cyclones defined as synoptic scale low pressure weather systems that occur in the middle latitudes of the Earth having neither tropical nor polar characteristics, and are connected with fronts and...
. Ami lost all tropical characteristics by 1200 on January 15, although its remnants continued eastward to a point well south of Rarotonga
Rarotonga
Rarotonga is the most populous island of the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 , out of the country's total population of 19,569.The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings and international airport are on Rarotonga...
. By late in its life, the storm had exited the area of purview of the Fiji Meteorological Service and the Regional Specialized Meteorology Center in Wellington, New Zealand became responsible for tracking the storm.
The storm wrought widespread damage in Fiji, killing 17 people and leaving more than F$100 million (US$53.5 million) in losses.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Beni
Cyclone Beni formed over the Solomon IslandsSolomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
in late January 2003, damaging houses in the archipelago before moving in a south-easterly direction along a course between Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
and New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
. After passing New Caledonia, the cyclone was downgraded into a low-pressure system and moved westwards towards the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n mainland. Beni reformed off Mackay
Mackay, Queensland
Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
on February 5, crossing the coast as a weak Category 1 system south of that city the following day. The cyclone dumped heavy rain in Central Queensland
Central Queensland
Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton and the Capricorn Coast and the area extends west to the Central Highlands at Emerald, north to the Mackay Regional...
, resulting in flash flooding which claimed the life of one person and resulted in a A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
10 million disaster bill.
Tropical Cyclone Cilla
Formed on January 25, dissipated on January 30.Tropical Cyclone Cilla was the ninth wettest tropical cyclone to affect American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
. Damage in Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
was mostly confined to vegetation and fruit bearing trees. The strongest sustained winds of 28 kn (55 km/h; 34 mph) and strongest gusts 58 kn (114 km/h; 71 mph) were recorded in the Ha'apai
Ha'apai
Haapai is a group of islands, islets, reefs and shoals in the central part of the Kingdom of Tonga, with the Tongatapu group to the south and the Vavau group to the north. Seventeen of the Haapai islands are populated....
island group. Power was lost on Lifuka
Lifuka
Lifuka is an island in the Kingdom of Tonga. It is located within the Haapai Group in the centre of the country, to northeast of the national capital of Nukualofa...
, the main island in the Ha'apai group for about three hours during the night of January 27 and Cyclone Cilla moved over central parts of Tonga. Communications were also affected but restored on January 28.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Erica
Formed on March 4, became extratropical on March 15, 2003. Erica formed near AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, later hitting New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Eseta
A tropical depression formed on March 7, 2003 near VanuatuVanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
. On March 9 the storm was named Eseta, the seventh named storm of the 2002/03 South Pacific cyclone season. Moving south-southeast and then nearly due east, Eseta bypassed the Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
islands and strengthened into a Category 3 cyclone before becoming extratropical near Rarotonga
Rarotonga
Rarotonga is the most populous island of the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 , out of the country's total population of 19,569.The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings and international airport are on Rarotonga...
.
The storm caused flash flood
Flash flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas—washes, rivers, dry lakes and basins. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a storm, hurricane, or tropical storm or meltwater from ice or snow flowing over ice sheets or snowfields...
ing and moderate damage to banana crops in Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
. There were no deaths.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Gina
Formed on June 4, dissipated on June 9.Cyclone Gina struck the island of Tikopia
Tikopia
Tikopia is a small and high island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Covering an area of 5 km² , the island is the remnant of an extinct volcano. Its highest point, Mt. Reani, reaches an elevation of 380 m above sea level. Lake Te Roto covers an old volcanic crater which is 80 m...
that had sustained catastrophic damage from Cyclone Zoe
Cyclone Zoe
Severe Tropical Cyclone Zoe was the most intense tropical cyclone recorded in the Southern Hemisphere.-Meteorological history:...
less than two months prior. The storm brought torrential rains and high winds that triggered landslides. Dozens of homes were damaged and many of the newly planted gardens in the recovery phase of Cyclone Zoe were destroyed. The impacts of Gina reportedly set back the recovery efforts for Zoe by nearly six months. A total of 112 newly-built houses and 128 newly-built kitchens were severely damaged and another 37 homes sustained minor damage. The newly planted winter crop was lost due to sea spray and 143 bags of rice, given as relief supplies from Cyclone Zoe, were lost. Following the storm, additional relief supplies and food were rushed to residents to ensure their safety. The new relief materials consisted of local foods, sago and mesh wiring, worth $14,400.
A ship carrying five people became stranded in the Coral Sea
Coral Sea
The Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the northeast coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands...
during the storm when their engine failed on June 7. A mayday signal was put out by the captain but rough seas produced by the storm hampered rescue efforts. Later that day, two more people were discovered to have gone missing during the storm once the first five people were safely rescued.
Storm names
Non-frontal low pressure systemsLow pressure area
A low-pressure area, or "low", is a region where the atmospheric pressure at sea level is below that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure systems form under areas of wind divergence which occur in upper levels of the troposphere. The formation process of a low-pressure area is known as...
of synoptic scale developing over warm waters are named whenever surface observations and/or Dvorak intensity analysis
Dvorak technique
The Dvorak technique is a widely used system to subjectively estimate tropical cyclone intensity based solely on visible and infrared satellite images. Several agencies issue Dvorak intensity numbers for cyclones of sufficient intensity...
indicates the presence of gale force
Beaufort scale
The Beaufort Scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort Wind Force Scale.-History:...
or stronger winds near the centre. Unlike the Atlantic standard
Atlantic hurricane
North Atlantic tropical cyclones usually form in the northern hemisphere summer or fall. Tropical cyclones can be categorized by intensity. Tropical storms have one-minute maximum sustained winds of at least 39 mph , while hurricanes have one-minute maximum sustained exceeding 74 mph...
, an unnamed tropical system may have gales in one or more quadrants but not near the centre.
Tropical cyclones forming between 160°E
160th meridian east
The meridian 160° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
and 120°W
120th meridian west
The meridian 120° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
are assigned names by the Fiji Meteorological Service
Fiji Meteorological Service
The Fiji Meteorological Service is a Department of the government of Fiji responsible for providing weather forecasts and is based in Nadi. Since 1995, FMS has been responsible for naming and tracking tropical cyclones in the Southwest Pacific region...
. If a tropical cyclone forms in Wellington's area of responsibility, south of 25°S
25th parallel south
The 25th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 25 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane, just south of the Tropic of Capricorn...
, the cyclone will still be given a name from the Fiji list. No tropical cyclone has ever been observed in the South Pacific Ocean east of 120°W
120th meridian west
The meridian 120° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
, and if one forms in the future, it is unclear how it will be handled.
Names used in the South Pacific are used sequentially, unlike lists used in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
and east Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
by the National Hurricane Centre. Only the names used during this cyclone season are listed below. The complete list of names are found in the World Meteorological Organization
World Meteorological Organization
The World Meteorological Organization is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 189 Member States and Territories. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization , which was founded in 1873...
's official list.
- Yolande
- Zoe
- Ami
- Beni
- Cilla
- Dovi
- Eseta
- Fili
- Gina
Note also that Cyclone Erica entered the region from the Coral Sea
Coral Sea
The Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the northeast coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands...
in the Australian basin.
Retirements
The names Zoe, Ami, Beni, Cilla were retired from RSMC Nadis list of names whilst Erica was removed from TCWC Brisbanes list of names.See also
- List of Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons
- Atlantic hurricane seasons: 20022002 Atlantic hurricane seasonThe 2002 Atlantic hurricane season was an average Atlantic hurricane season, officially starting on June 1, 2002 and ending on November 30, dates which conventionally limit the period of each year when tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean tend to form...
, 20032003 Atlantic hurricane seasonThe 2003 Atlantic hurricane season was an active Atlantic hurricane season with tropical activity before and after the official bounds of the season – the first such occurrence in 50 years. The season produced 21 tropical cyclones, of which 16 developed into named storms; seven... - Pacific hurricane seasons: 20022002 Pacific hurricane seasonThe 2002 Pacific hurricane season was an event in tropical cyclone meteorology. The most notable storm that year was Hurricane Kenna, which reached Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It made landfall near Puerto Vallarta, in the Mexican state of Jalisco, on October 25...
, 20032003 Pacific hurricane seasonThe 2003 Pacific hurricane season produced an unusually large number of tropical cyclones which affected Mexico. The most notable cyclones the year were Hurricanes Ignacio and Marty, which killed 2 and 12 people in Mexico, respectively, and were collectively responsible for about... - Pacific typhoon seasons: 20022002 Pacific typhoon seasonA Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert was issued on July 19 for a Tropical Disturbance that was located east of the international Date Line. The Next day the Disturbance crossed the international date line and was classified as a Tropical Depression by the JMA. The JMA then upgraded the depression to...
, 20032003 Pacific typhoon seasonThe 2003 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 2003, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between May and November... - North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons: 20022002 North Indian Ocean cyclone seasonThe 2002 North Indian Ocean cyclone season had no bounds, but cyclones tend to form between April and December, with peaks in May and November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern Indian Ocean.-Season summary:Four tropical...
, 20032003 North Indian Ocean cyclone seasonThe 2003 North Indian Ocean cyclone season had no bounds, but cyclones tend to form between April and December, with peaks in May and November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern Indian Ocean.-Season summary:Three tropical...