The 1996 season

Cyclone Beti (1996)

Cyclone Beti reached Category 3 in the South Pacific between March 19, 1996 and April 2, 1996, with a lowest pressure of 935 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Beti, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1996 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
March 19, 1996 to April 2, 1996
Peak strength
Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)
Lowest pressure
935 mb (27.61 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
14.8
Identifier
SH231996

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Mar 19, 06:0011.9S 169.9E15 ktTropical storm
Mar 19, 12:0012.0S 170.1E15 ktTropical storm
Mar 19, 18:0012.1S 170.3E15 ktTropical storm
Mar 20, 00:0012.2S 170.5E20 ktTropical storm
Mar 20, 06:0012.3S 170.5E20 ktTropical storm
Mar 20, 12:0012.4S 170.5E20 ktTropical storm
Mar 20, 18:0012.5S 170.3E25 ktTropical storm
Mar 21, 00:0012.5S 170.0E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 06:0012.5S 169.8E25 kt998 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 12:0012.6S 169.5E25 kt997 mbTropical storm
Mar 21, 18:0012.7S 169.3E25 kt997 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 00:0012.8S 169.4E25 kt997 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 06:0013.0S 169.6E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 12:0013.3S 169.9E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 22, 18:0013.8S 170.0E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 00:0014.4S 170.0E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 06:0015.1S 169.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 12:0015.6S 169.6E35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Mar 23, 18:0016.0S 169.1E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 00:0016.1S 168.5E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 06:0016.2S 167.9E55 kt987 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 12:0016.4S 167.3E55 kt987 mbTropical storm
Mar 24, 18:0016.7S 166.6E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 00:0016.9S 165.9E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 06:0017.1S 165.3E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 12:0017.3S 164.7E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Mar 25, 18:0017.6S 164.3E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 00:0018.0S 164.1E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 06:0018.4S 164.1E95 kt960 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 12:0018.9S 164.3E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Mar 26, 18:0019.6S 164.7E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 00:0020.5S 165.3E105 kt940 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 06:0021.5S 165.8E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 12:0022.1S 166.1E105 kt950 mbTropical storm
Mar 27, 18:0023.2S 166.8E95 kt975 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 00:0024.2S 167.6E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 06:0025.2S 168.4E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 12:0026.1S 169.2E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 28, 18:0027.2S 170.6E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 00:0028.3S 172.1E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 06:0029.6S 173.8E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 12:0030.8S 175.5E30 kt987 mbTropical storm
Mar 29, 18:0031.7S 177.2E25 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 00:0032.5S 179.0E25 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 06:0033.2S 179.2W20 kt990 mbTropical storm
Mar 30, 12:0034.8S 180.0E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 30, 18:0036.0S 179.5E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 31, 00:0036.5S 179.0E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 31, 06:0037.3S 179.5E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 31, 12:0037.8S 179.8E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Mar 31, 18:0038.2S 180.1E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Apr 1, 00:0038.9S 180.6E35 kt995 mbNot reported
Apr 1, 06:0040.0S 181.4E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Apr 1, 12:0041.0S 182.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Apr 1, 18:0042.3S 182.7E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Apr 2, 00:0044.5S 184.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Apr 2, 06:0046.0S 184.5E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Apr 2, 12:0048.5S 184.8E30 kt997 mbNot reported
Apr 2, 18:0052.0S 185.0E30 kt997 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1996

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.