The 1996 season

Cyclone Celeste (1996)

Cyclone Celeste reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between January 21, 1996 and January 31, 1996, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Celeste, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
January 21, 1996 to January 31, 1996
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 35 km (22 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.2
Identifier
SH091996

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jan 21, 00:0015.7S 151.7E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 21, 06:0015.5S 151.4E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 21, 12:0015.4S 151.2E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 21, 18:0015.3S 151.1E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 22, 00:0015.3S 150.9E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 22, 06:0015.2S 150.7E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 22, 12:0015.2S 150.6E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 22, 18:0015.0S 150.6E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 23, 00:0014.9S 150.4E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 23, 06:0014.7S 150.3E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 23, 12:0014.5S 150.0E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 23, 18:0014.5S 149.7E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 24, 00:0014.8S 149.6E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 24, 06:0015.2S 149.5E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 24, 12:0015.7S 149.4E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 24, 18:0016.0S 149.5E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 25, 00:0016.4S 149.3E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 25, 06:0016.6S 149.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 25, 12:0016.9S 148.5E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 25, 18:0017.1S 148.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 26, 00:0017.4S 147.6E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 26, 06:0017.7S 147.2E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 26, 12:0018.2S 146.8E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jan 26, 18:0018.9S 147.5E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jan 27, 00:0019.6S 148.2E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 27, 06:0019.7S 148.6E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 27, 12:0019.5S 149.4E55 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 27, 18:0019.1S 150.3E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 28, 00:0018.8S 151.2E45 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 28, 06:0018.7S 152.3E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 28, 12:0018.5S 153.3E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 28, 18:0018.4S 154.3E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 29, 00:0018.1S 155.2E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 29, 06:0017.8S 156.2E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jan 29, 12:0017.5S 157.2E40 ktTropical storm
Jan 29, 18:0016.9S 158.7E35 ktTropical storm
Jan 30, 00:0016.6S 160.4E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 30, 06:0016.9S 161.7E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 30, 12:0017.5S 162.8E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 30, 18:0018.3S 164.2E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 31, 00:0018.0S 166.0ENot 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.