The 1971 season

Tropical Storm Fiona (1971)

Tropical Storm Fiona peaked at 50 kt in the South Pacific between February 16, 1971 and March 1, 1971, with a lowest pressure of 960 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Fiona, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1971 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
February 16, 1971 to March 1, 1971
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 50 kt (58 mph)
Lowest pressure
960 mb (28.35 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.6
Identifier
SH211971

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 16, 12:0016.0S 141.4E5 ktTropical storm
Feb 16, 18:0016.0S 141.2E10 ktTropical storm
Feb 17, 00:0016.0S 140.7E10 ktTropical storm
Feb 17, 06:0016.0S 140.1E15 ktTropical storm
Feb 17, 12:0016.0S 139.4E15 ktTropical storm
Feb 17, 18:0015.8S 138.7E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 18, 00:0015.5S 138.0E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 18, 06:0014.7S 137.4E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 18, 12:0013.9S 137.6E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 18, 18:0013.6S 138.7E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 19, 00:0014.2S 139.9E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 19, 06:0015.2S 140.8E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 19, 12:0016.3S 141.7E45 ktTropical storm
Feb 19, 18:0017.4S 142.4E45 ktTropical storm
Feb 20, 00:0018.5S 143.3E45 ktTropical storm
Feb 20, 06:0019.5S 144.9E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 20, 12:0020.5S 146.5E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 20, 18:0021.4S 147.9E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 21, 00:0022.2S 149.2E40 ktTropical storm
Feb 21, 06:0022.8S 150.4E50 ktTropical storm
Feb 21, 12:0023.4S 151.2E50 ktTropical storm
Feb 21, 18:0024.0S 151.7E45 ktTropical storm
Feb 22, 00:0024.4S 152.2E40 ktTropical storm
Feb 22, 06:0024.4S 152.7E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 22, 12:0024.3S 153.3E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 22, 18:0024.1S 154.3E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 23, 00:0024.0S 155.4E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 23, 06:0023.7S 156.3E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 23, 12:0023.4S 157.1E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 23, 18:0023.0S 158.0E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 24, 00:0022.7S 158.7E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 24, 06:0022.4S 159.4E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 24, 12:0022.3S 159.9E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 24, 18:0022.1S 160.2E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 25, 00:0022.0S 160.6E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 25, 06:0021.7S 161.0E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 25, 12:0021.6S 161.3E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 25, 18:0021.5S 161.6E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 26, 00:0021.4S 161.9E30 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 06:0021.3S 162.2E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 26, 12:0021.2S 162.5E30 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 18:0021.0S 162.8E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 27, 00:0020.8S 163.0E20 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 06:0020.6S 163.1E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 27, 12:0020.5S 163.1E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 18:0020.4S 162.9E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 28, 00:0020.3S 162.5E20 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 06:0020.5S 162.2E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 28, 12:0022.6S 161.7E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 18:0023.5S 161.3ENot reported
Mar 1, 00:0024.0S 161.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1971

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.