Tropical Storm Tessa (1978)
Tropical Storm Tessa peaked at 40 kt in the South Pacific between December 5, 1977 and December 11, 1977, with a lowest pressure of 990 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Tessa, 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
- December 5, 1977 to December 11, 1977
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 40 kt (46 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 990 mb (29.23 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 1786 km (1110 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 1.7
- Identifier
- SH051978
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 5, 00:00 | 11.0S 156.0W | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 5, 06:00 | 11.1S 155.3W | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 5, 12:00 | 11.3S 154.5W | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 5, 18:00 | 11.6S 153.6W | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 6, 00:00 | 11.8S 152.7W | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 6, 06:00 | 11.8S 151.9W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 6, 12:00 | 11.8S 151.2W | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 6, 18:00 | 11.8S 150.6W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 7, 00:00 | 11.8S 150.0W | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 7, 06:00 | 11.9S 149.1W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 7, 12:00 | 12.2S 148.2W | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 7, 18:00 | 12.5S 147.6W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 8, 00:00 | 12.8S 147.0W | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 8, 06:00 | 13.1S 146.0W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 8, 12:00 | 13.5S 145.0W | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 8, 18:00 | 13.8S 144.3W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 9, 00:00 | 14.1S 143.6W | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 9, 06:00 | 14.5S 142.4W | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 9, 12:00 | 15.0S 141.0W | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 9, 18:00 | 15.5S 139.5W | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 10, 00:00 | 16.0S 138.0W | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 10, 06:00 | 16.7S 136.3W | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 10, 12:00 | 17.7S 134.4W | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 10, 18:00 | 18.7S 132.3W | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 11, 00:00 | 19.8S 129.9W | 30 kt | Mixed |
Other South Pacific storms of 1978
- Tropical Storm TomSouth Pacific · 1978
- Cyclone SteveSouth 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 DianaSouth 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.