Tropical Depression Zaka (1996)
Tropical Depression Zaka peaked at 30 kt in the South Pacific between March 10, 1996 and March 11, 1996, with a lowest pressure of 997 mb.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Tropical Depression Zaka. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.
Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- South Pacific
- Dates
- March 10, 1996 to March 11, 1996
- Peak strength
- Tropical Depression, 30 kt (35 mph), ten-minute wind
- Lowest pressure
- 997 mb (29.44 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 762 km (473 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 0.0
- Identifier
- 1996071S25177
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 10, 12:00 | 25.0S 176.5E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 10, 18:00 | 25.5S 179.5E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 11, 00:00 | 27.5S 183.5E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 11, 06:00 | 28.0S 186.0E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 11, 12:00 | 29.0S 191.0E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 11, 18:00 | 30.0S 194.0E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not 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. 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.