Tropical Storm Ofa (1980)
Tropical Storm Ofa peaked at 55 kt in the South Pacific between December 9, 1979 and December 15, 1979, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Ofa, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1980 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 9, 1979 to December 15, 1979
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 55 kt (63 mph), ten-minute wind
- Lowest pressure
- 980 mb (28.94 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 243 km (151 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 1.0
- Identifier
- 1979344S12170
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 9, 12:00 | 12.0S 170.0E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 9, 18:00 | 12.2S 171.5E | Tropical storm | ||
| Dec 10, 00:00 | 12.5S 173.5E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 10, 06:00 | 12.7S 175.3E | Tropical storm | ||
| Dec 10, 12:00 | 13.0S 177.0E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 10, 18:00 | 13.5S 179.0E | Tropical storm | ||
| Dec 11, 00:00 | 14.3S 181.0E | 35 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 11, 06:00 | 15.2S 183.4E | Tropical storm | ||
| Dec 11, 12:00 | 16.2S 185.7E | 45 kt | 987 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 11, 18:00 | 17.7S 188.0E | Tropical storm | ||
| Dec 12, 00:00 | 19.3S 190.3E | 55 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 12, 06:00 | 20.3S 192.3E | Tropical storm | ||
| Dec 12, 12:00 | 21.0S 194.4E | 45 kt | 987 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 12, 18:00 | 21.6S 197.0E | Tropical storm | ||
| Dec 13, 00:00 | 22.0S 199.5E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 13, 06:00 | 22.3S 200.8E | Tropical storm | ||
| Dec 13, 12:00 | 22.4S 202.0E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 13, 18:00 | 22.3S 202.6E | Tropical storm | ||
| Dec 14, 00:00 | 22.0S 203.0E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 14, 06:00 | 21.7S 203.2E | Tropical storm | ||
| Dec 14, 12:00 | 21.5S 203.5E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 14, 18:00 | 21.2S 204.3E | Tropical storm | ||
| Dec 15, 00:00 | 21.0S 204.5E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
Other South Pacific storms of 1980
- Cyclone PeniSouth Pacific · 1980
- Tropical Storm PaulSouth Pacific · 1980
- Tropical Storm RaeSouth Pacific · 1980
- Tropical Storm RuthSouth Pacific · 1980
- Cyclone SimonSouth Pacific · 1980
- Cyclone SinaSouth Pacific · 1980
- Tropical Storm TiaSouth Pacific · 1980
- Tropical Storm ValSouth Pacific · 1980
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1980
- Tropical Storm WallySouth Pacific · 1980
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.