Tropical Storm Diana (1978)
Tropical Storm Diana peaked at 50 kt in the South Pacific between February 15, 1978 and February 22, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Diana, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1978 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 15, 1978 to February 22, 1978
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 50 kt (58 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 980 mb (28.94 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 995 km (618 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 3.8
- Identifier
- SH221978
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 15, 12:00 | 13.5S 163.0W | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Feb 15, 18:00 | 13.6S 161.7W | Not reported | ||
| Feb 16, 00:00 | 16.4S 159.3W | 30 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 16, 06:00 | 16.6S 157.7W | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 16, 12:00 | 16.7S 156.5W | 35 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 16, 18:00 | 16.8S 155.7W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 17, 00:00 | 16.8S 155.0W | 50 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 17, 06:00 | 16.8S 153.9W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 17, 12:00 | 17.0S 152.7W | 50 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 17, 18:00 | 17.4S 151.9W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 18, 00:00 | 18.0S 151.5W | 50 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 18, 06:00 | 18.6S 151.7W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 18, 12:00 | 19.1S 152.0W | 50 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 18, 18:00 | 18.8S 152.0W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 19, 00:00 | 18.5S 152.0W | 45 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 19, 06:00 | 19.2S 152.0W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 19, 12:00 | 20.0S 152.1W | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 19, 18:00 | 20.5S 152.5W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 20, 00:00 | 21.0S 153.0W | 35 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 20, 06:00 | 22.0S 153.4W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 20, 12:00 | 23.0S 153.8W | 35 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 20, 18:00 | 23.7S 154.0W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 21, 00:00 | 24.5S 153.5W | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 21, 06:00 | 25.6S 152.4W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 21, 12:00 | 26.8S 151.0W | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 21, 18:00 | 27.5S 149.5W | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Feb 22, 00:00 | 28.0S 148.0W | 30 kt | 997 mb | Mixed |
Other South Pacific storms of 1978
- Tropical Storm TomSouth Pacific · 1978
- Cyclone SteveSouth Pacific · 1978
- Tropical Storm TessaSouth Pacific · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 1978
- Tropical Storm AnneSouth Pacific · 1978
- Cyclone BobSouth Pacific · 1978
- Cyclone BobSouth Pacific · 1978
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 1978
- Cyclone CharlesSouth Pacific · 1978
- Tropical Storm ErnieSouth Pacific · 1978
- Tropical Storm GwenSouth Pacific · 1978
- Cyclone HalSouth Pacific · 1978
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.