The 1970 season

Tropical Storm Dawn (1970)

Tropical Storm Dawn peaked at 45 kt in the South Pacific between February 10, 1970 and February 19, 1970, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Dawn, 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
February 10, 1970 to February 19, 1970
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 45 kt (52 mph)
Lowest pressure
980 mb (28.94 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
0.8
Identifier
SH161970

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
Feb 10, 06:0013.8S 138.7E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 10, 12:0013.1S 139.7E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 10, 18:0012.5S 140.8E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 11, 00:0012.0S 142.0E40 ktTropical storm
Feb 11, 06:0011.6S 143.2E45 ktTropical storm
Feb 11, 12:0011.4S 144.5E40 ktTropical storm
Feb 11, 18:0011.6S 145.8E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 12, 00:0012.1S 146.8E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 12, 06:0012.6S 147.5E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 12, 12:0013.0S 148.0E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 12, 18:0013.5S 148.6E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 13, 00:0014.0S 149.2E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 13, 06:0014.2S 150.1E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 13, 12:0014.1S 151.3E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 13, 18:0013.9S 152.5E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 14, 00:0013.7S 153.5E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 14, 06:0013.5S 154.6E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 14, 12:0013.5S 155.6E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 14, 18:0013.5S 156.6E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 15, 00:0013.6S 157.7E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 15, 06:0013.9S 158.7E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 15, 12:0014.3S 159.5E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 15, 18:0014.7S 160.1E15 ktTropical storm
Feb 16, 00:0015.1S 160.7E15 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 06:0015.5S 161.3E15 ktTropical storm
Feb 16, 12:0016.1S 161.8E10 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 18:0016.9S 162.0E10 ktTropical storm
Feb 17, 00:0017.9S 162.0E15 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 17, 06:0018.7S 161.9E15 ktTropical storm
Feb 17, 12:0019.6S 161.7E20 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 17, 18:0020.4S 161.4E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 18, 00:0021.3S 161.0E15 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 06:0022.1S 160.5E15 ktTropical storm
Feb 18, 12:0023.0S 160.0E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 18, 18:0023.7S 159.4E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 19, 00:0024.4S 158.7E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 19, 06:0025.0S 158.2ETropical storm

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.