Tropical Storm Nessie (1974)
Tropical Storm Nessie peaked at 40 kt in the South Pacific between January 17, 1974 and January 22, 1974, with a lowest pressure of 990 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Nessie, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1974 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
- January 17, 1974 to January 22, 1974
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 40 kt (46 mph), ten-minute wind
- Lowest pressure
- 990 mb (29.23 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 0.5
- Identifier
- SH161974
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 17, 00:00 | 21.2S 156.0E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 17, 06:00 | 20.5S 156.4E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 17, 12:00 | 19.8S 157.0E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 17, 18:00 | 19.2S 157.8E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 18, 00:00 | 18.7S 158.6E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 18, 06:00 | 18.7S 159.4E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 18, 12:00 | 18.9S 160.2E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 18, 18:00 | 19.2S 161.0E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 19, 00:00 | 19.7S 162.0E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 19, 06:00 | 20.5S 163.9E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 19, 12:00 | 21.7S 166.2E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 19, 18:00 | 23.5S 168.3E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 20, 00:00 | 25.2S 170.0E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 20, 06:00 | 26.5S 170.7E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 20, 12:00 | 27.9S 171.3E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 20, 18:00 | 29.4S 172.1E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 21, 00:00 | 30.8S 172.9E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 21, 06:00 | 32.1S 173.7E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 21, 12:00 | 33.3S 174.5E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 21, 18:00 | 34.8S 175.9E | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 22, 00:00 | 36.5S 177.9E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
Other South Pacific storms of 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 1974
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1974
- Cyclone Lottie:NatalieSouth Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm UnaSouth Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm MonicaSouth Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm VeraSouth Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm WandaSouth Pacific · 1974
- Cyclone PamSouth Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm YvonneSouth Pacific · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 1974
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 1974
- Cyclone ZoeSouth Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm JennySouth Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Depression AliceSouth Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm AliceSouth Pacific · 1974
- Tropical Storm TinaSouth Pacific · 1974
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. This storm’s winds are ten-minute averages from its regional agency. They read about 12 percent lower than the one-minute winds US agencies use, so a Saffir-Simpson category is not given for it.
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.