The 1992 season

Cyclone Esau (1992)

Cyclone Esau reached Category 4 in the South Pacific between February 24, 1992 and March 9, 1992, with a lowest pressure of 925 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Esau, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1992 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
February 24, 1992 to March 9, 1992
Peak strength
Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)
Lowest pressure
925 mb (27.32 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
28.2
Fastest the center moved
24 kt (28 mph)
Identifier
SH211992

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
Feb 24, 06:0013.2S 168.5E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 24, 12:0013.7S 168.8E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 24, 18:0014.3S 169.0E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 25, 00:0014.8S 168.8E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 25, 06:0015.2S 168.5E25 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 25, 12:0015.4S 168.0E25 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 25, 18:0015.6S 167.7E25 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 00:0015.7S 167.5E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 06:0015.8S 167.2E35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 12:0015.9S 166.8E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 18:0015.9S 166.2E40 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 00:0015.8S 165.4E45 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 06:0015.6S 164.6E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 12:0015.4S 163.8E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 18:0015.3S 163.0E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 00:0015.2S 162.2E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 06:0015.0S 161.4E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 12:0014.7S 160.6E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 18:0014.2S 160.0E115 kt930 mbTropical storm
Feb 29, 00:0013.9S 159.6E125 kt925 mbTropical storm
Feb 29, 06:0013.7S 159.4E130 kt935 mbTropical storm
Feb 29, 12:0013.4S 159.4E130 kt940 mbTropical storm
Feb 29, 18:0013.3S 159.7E125 kt940 mbTropical storm
Mar 1, 00:0013.6S 160.1E115 ktTropical storm
Mar 1, 06:0014.0S 160.4E105 kt940 mbTropical storm
Mar 1, 12:0014.4S 160.8E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Mar 1, 18:0014.8S 161.2E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Mar 2, 00:0015.3S 161.6E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Mar 2, 06:0015.7S 162.1E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Mar 2, 12:0016.1S 162.7E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Mar 2, 18:0016.5S 163.2E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Mar 3, 00:0016.9S 163.7E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Mar 3, 06:0017.4S 164.3E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Mar 3, 12:0018.0S 164.8E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Mar 3, 18:0018.8S 165.1E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Mar 4, 00:0019.6S 165.3E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Mar 4, 06:0020.4S 165.4E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Mar 4, 12:0021.2S 165.5E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Mar 4, 18:0022.0S 165.6E70 kt960 mbTropical storm
Mar 5, 00:0022.8S 165.5E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Mar 5, 06:0023.6S 165.6E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Mar 5, 12:0024.8S 165.9E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Mar 5, 18:0026.6S 166.0E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Mar 6, 00:0028.4S 166.1E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 6, 06:0030.2S 166.0E45 kt980 mbExtratropical
Mar 6, 12:0031.8S 165.7E45 kt980 mbExtratropical
Mar 6, 18:0033.2S 165.6E45 kt980 mbExtratropical
Mar 7, 00:0034.5S 165.8E45 kt980 mbExtratropical
Mar 7, 06:0035.4S 166.9E40 kt985 mbExtratropical
Mar 7, 12:0036.1S 168.3E40 kt985 mbExtratropical
Mar 7, 18:0037.0S 168.3E45 kt987 mbNot reported
Mar 8, 00:0038.0S 171.0E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 8, 06:0038.2S 172.5E35 kt995 mbNot reported
Mar 8, 12:0037.8S 175.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Mar 8, 18:0037.5S 178.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Mar 9, 00:0037.5S 181.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1992

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.