Cyclone Gertie (1971)
Cyclone Gertie reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between February 11, 1971 and February 16, 1971, with a lowest pressure of 983 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Cyclone Gertie, 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.
The storm
- Basin
- South Pacific
- Dates
- February 11, 1971 to February 16, 1971
- Peak strength
- Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 983 mb (29.03 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 1.8
- Identifier
- SH161971
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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 11, 00:00 | 17.0S 149.7E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 11, 06:00 | 17.2S 150.1E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 11, 12:00 | 17.6S 150.7E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 11, 18:00 | 18.0S 151.4E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 12, 00:00 | 18.3S 152.2E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 12, 06:00 | 18.7S 153.0E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 12, 12:00 | 19.1S 153.4E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 12, 18:00 | 19.6S 153.5E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 13, 00:00 | 20.2S 153.8E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 13, 06:00 | 20.8S 154.1E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 13, 12:00 | 21.6S 153.9E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 13, 18:00 | 22.5S 153.3E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 14, 00:00 | 22.4S 152.8E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 14, 06:00 | 21.2S 152.4E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 14, 12:00 | 21.0S 151.6E | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 14, 18:00 | 21.0S 150.4E | 65 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 15, 00:00 | 20.5S 149.6E | 60 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 15, 06:00 | 19.8S 148.9E | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 15, 12:00 | 19.2S 147.8E | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 15, 18:00 | 18.5S 146.6E | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 16, 00:00 | 17.9S 145.5E | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 16, 06:00 | 17.4S 144.5E | 25 kt | Tropical storm |
Other South Pacific storms of 1971
- Tropical Depression Beverley:EvaSouth Pacific · 1971
- Tropical Storm PriscillaSouth Pacific · 1971
- Tropical Storm RosieSouth Pacific · 1971
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 1971
- Tropical Storm AggieSouth Pacific · 1971
- Tropical Storm DoraSouth Pacific · 1971
- Tropical Storm IdaSouth Pacific · 1971
- Tropical Storm FionaSouth Pacific · 1971
- Tropical Storm LenaSouth Pacific · 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.