The 1982 season

Cyclone Hettie (1982)

Cyclone Hettie reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between January 24, 1982 and February 6, 1982, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Hettie, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1982 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
January 24, 1982 to February 6, 1982
Peak strength
Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 176 km (109 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.2
Identifier
SH151982

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
Jan 24, 00:0018.2S 166.1E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Jan 24, 06:0018.2S 167.2ENot reported
Jan 24, 12:0018.2S 168.3E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Jan 24, 18:0018.2S 169.4ENot reported
Jan 25, 00:0018.2S 170.4E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Jan 25, 06:0018.2S 171.3ENot reported
Jan 25, 12:0018.1S 172.0E35 kt995 mbNot reported
Jan 25, 18:0016.9S 173.2E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 26, 00:0017.1S 173.2E25 kt987 mbTropical storm
Jan 26, 06:0017.3S 173.3E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 26, 12:0017.6S 173.5E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 26, 18:0017.9S 173.7E40 ktTropical storm
Jan 27, 00:0018.2S 173.7E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 27, 06:0018.4S 173.8E50 ktTropical storm
Jan 27, 12:0018.6S 174.1E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 27, 18:0018.7S 174.4E60 ktTropical storm
Jan 28, 00:0018.7S 174.7E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 28, 06:0018.7S 175.0E70 ktTropical storm
Jan 28, 12:0018.7S 175.2E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 28, 18:0018.7S 175.3E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 29, 00:0018.7S 175.5E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 29, 06:0018.8S 175.7E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 29, 12:0018.9S 175.8E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 29, 18:0019.1S 175.9E65 ktTropical storm
Jan 30, 00:0019.3S 176.0E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 30, 06:0019.6S 176.1E55 ktTropical storm
Jan 30, 12:0020.0S 176.3E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 30, 18:0020.8S 176.7E50 ktTropical storm
Jan 31, 00:0022.1S 177.2E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 06:0023.4S 177.8E45 ktTropical storm
Jan 31, 12:0024.5S 178.2E45 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 18:0025.7S 178.6E40 ktTropical storm
Feb 1, 00:0027.2S 178.7E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 06:0028.7S 178.4E35 ktTropical storm
Feb 1, 12:0030.2S 177.9E30 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 18:0031.8S 177.0E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 2, 00:0033.0S 179.5E50 kt985 mbNot reported
Feb 2, 06:0034.6S 180.6ENot reported
Feb 2, 12:0036.0S 182.0E45 kt987 mbNot reported
Feb 2, 18:0036.9S 183.2ENot reported
Feb 3, 00:0037.6S 184.3E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Feb 3, 06:0038.2S 185.3ENot reported
Feb 3, 12:0038.7S 186.4E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Feb 3, 18:0039.3S 187.7ENot reported
Feb 4, 00:0039.8S 189.3E35 kt995 mbNot reported
Feb 4, 06:0040.2S 191.1ENot reported
Feb 4, 12:0040.5S 193.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Feb 4, 18:0040.7S 195.0ENot reported
Feb 5, 00:0040.7S 197.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Feb 5, 06:0040.5S 199.1ENot reported
Feb 5, 12:0040.3S 201.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Feb 5, 18:0040.1S 202.6ENot reported
Feb 6, 00:0040.0S 204.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1982

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.