The 1972 season

Cyclone Daisy (1972)

Cyclone Daisy reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between February 5, 1972 and February 16, 1972, with a lowest pressure of 959 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Daisy, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1972 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 5, 1972 to February 16, 1972
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
959 mb (28.32 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
5.0
Identifier
SH161972

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 5, 00:0014.0S 150.0ENot reported
Feb 5, 06:0014.1S 150.0ENot reported
Feb 5, 12:0014.2S 150.0ENot reported
Feb 5, 18:0014.3S 150.0ENot reported
Feb 6, 00:0014.9S 150.0E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 6, 06:0015.1S 150.0E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 6, 12:0015.2S 150.0E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 6, 18:0015.0S 150.0E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 7, 00:0015.1S 150.3E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 7, 06:0015.4S 150.8E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 7, 12:0015.9S 151.4E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 7, 18:0016.3S 152.1E45 ktTropical storm
Feb 8, 00:0016.8S 152.8E50 ktTropical storm
Feb 8, 06:0017.4S 153.4E40 ktTropical storm
Feb 8, 12:0018.1S 154.0E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 8, 18:0018.6S 154.8E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 9, 00:0019.1S 155.6E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 9, 06:0020.6S 156.1E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 9, 12:0021.7S 156.0E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 9, 18:0022.3S 155.7E50 ktTropical storm
Feb 10, 00:0022.8S 155.3E65 ktTropical storm
Feb 10, 06:0023.2S 155.0E60 ktTropical storm
Feb 10, 12:0023.7S 154.6E60 ktTropical storm
Feb 10, 18:0024.0S 154.1E75 ktTropical storm
Feb 11, 00:0024.4S 153.6E80 ktTropical storm
Feb 11, 06:0025.2S 153.4E65 ktTropical storm
Feb 11, 12:0025.9S 153.2E50 ktTropical storm
Feb 11, 18:0026.3S 153.0E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 12, 00:0026.7S 153.1E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 12, 06:0027.0S 153.5E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 12, 12:0027.2S 154.1E40 ktTropical storm
Feb 12, 18:0027.3S 154.7E40 ktTropical storm
Feb 13, 00:0027.4S 155.4E40 ktTropical storm
Feb 13, 06:0027.5S 156.2E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 13, 12:0027.6S 156.9E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 13, 18:0027.6S 157.6E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 14, 00:0027.6S 158.0ETropical storm
Feb 14, 06:0027.5S 158.3ENot reported
Feb 14, 12:0027.3S 158.5ENot reported
Feb 14, 18:0027.3S 158.8ENot reported
Feb 15, 00:0027.1S 158.9ENot reported
Feb 15, 06:0026.6S 158.9ENot reported
Feb 15, 12:0026.1S 158.8ENot reported
Feb 15, 18:0025.9S 158.5ENot reported
Feb 16, 00:0026.0S 158.0ENot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1972

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.