The 1970 season

Cyclone Ada (1970)

Cyclone Ada reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between January 3, 1970 and January 19, 1970, with a lowest pressure of 962 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Ada, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1970 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
January 3, 1970 to January 19, 1970
Peak strength
Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
Lowest pressure
962 mb (28.41 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.2
Fastest the center moved
13 kt (15 mph)
Identifier
SH051970

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jan 3, 00:0015.8S 165.0E10 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 06:0016.0S 164.1E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 3, 12:0016.1S 163.4E15 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 18:0016.3S 162.7E10 ktTropical storm
Jan 4, 00:0016.4S 162.0E10 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 06:0016.6S 161.2E10 ktTropical storm
Jan 4, 12:0016.8S 160.5E15 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 18:0016.9S 159.7E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 5, 00:0017.0S 159.1E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 5, 06:0017.0S 158.5E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 5, 12:0017.0S 157.9E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 5, 18:0016.9S 157.3E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 6, 00:0016.8S 156.7E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 6, 06:0016.6S 156.4E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 6, 12:0016.4S 156.2E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 6, 18:0016.1S 156.0E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 7, 00:0015.9S 155.9E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 7, 06:0015.7S 155.9E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 7, 12:0015.5S 155.9E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 7, 18:0015.3S 156.0E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 8, 00:0015.1S 156.0E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 8, 06:0014.9S 156.1E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 8, 12:0014.8S 156.1E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 8, 18:0014.6S 156.2E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 9, 00:0014.5S 156.3E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 9, 06:0014.2S 156.5E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 9, 12:0013.8S 156.8E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 9, 18:0013.4S 157.2E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 10, 00:0012.9S 157.7E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 10, 06:0012.6S 158.2E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 10, 12:0012.4S 158.7E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 10, 18:0012.2S 159.2E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 11, 00:0012.0S 159.8E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 11, 06:0011.8S 160.3E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 11, 12:0011.6S 160.8E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 18:0011.4S 161.3E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 12, 00:0011.4S 161.9E10 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 06:0011.5S 162.4E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 12, 12:0011.7S 163.0E20 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 18:0012.1S 163.3E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 00:0012.5S 163.4E15 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 06:0013.1S 163.3E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 13, 12:0013.6S 163.1E15 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 18:0014.0S 162.7E10 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 00:0014.4S 162.3E10 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 06:0014.8S 161.8E10 ktTropical storm
Jan 14, 12:0015.3S 161.3E10 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 18:0015.6S 160.9E10 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 00:0016.0S 160.0E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 06:0016.7S 158.9E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 12:0017.3S 157.8E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 15, 18:0017.8S 156.7E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 16, 00:0018.3S 155.6E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 16, 06:0018.6S 154.5E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 16, 12:0019.0S 153.3E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 16, 18:0019.3S 152.0E35 ktTropical storm
Jan 17, 00:0019.7S 150.8E40 ktTropical storm
Jan 17, 06:0019.8S 149.9E40 ktTropical storm
Jan 17, 12:0020.0S 149.2E55 ktTropical storm
Jan 17, 18:0020.2S 148.9E70 ktTropical storm
Jan 18, 00:0020.5S 148.7E70 ktTropical storm
Jan 18, 06:0020.8S 148.6E70 ktTropical storm
Jan 18, 12:0021.0S 148.5ETropical storm
Jan 18, 18:0021.1S 148.6ENot reported
Jan 19, 00:0021.2S 148.8ENot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1970

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.