The 1997 season

Cyclone Drena (1997)

Cyclone Drena reached Category 4 in the South Pacific between January 1, 1997 and January 13, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 935 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Drena, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1997 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 1, 1997 to January 13, 1997
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
935 mb (27.61 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
23.0
Fastest the center moved
31 kt (36 mph)
Identifier
SH161997

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jan 1, 00:0010.3S 175.5E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 1, 06:0010.3S 174.6E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 1, 12:0010.4S 173.7E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 1, 18:0010.8S 172.5E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 2, 00:0011.3S 171.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 06:0012.1S 170.0E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 12:0012.8S 168.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 18:0013.5S 167.7E35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 00:0014.1S 166.5E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 06:0014.4S 165.2E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 12:0014.6S 164.1E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 18:0014.8S 163.0E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 00:0015.0S 161.9E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 06:0015.0S 161.0E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 12:0015.0S 160.3E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 18:0015.1S 159.8E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 00:0015.2S 159.5E105 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 06:0015.5S 159.2E120 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 12:0015.9S 159.0E120 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 18:0016.2S 158.8E120 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 00:0016.6S 158.7E120 kt935 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 06:0017.0S 158.9E115 kt935 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 12:0017.5S 159.4E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 18:0018.0S 160.2E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 00:0018.3S 161.1E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 06:0019.0S 162.0E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 12:0020.0S 163.2E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 18:0021.1S 164.3E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 00:0021.9S 165.2E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 06:0022.7S 166.1E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 12:0024.0S 167.0E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 18:0025.5S 167.6E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 00:0027.3S 167.9E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 06:0028.9S 168.4E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 12:0030.5S 168.6E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 18:0032.1S 169.0E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 00:0033.7S 169.5E50 kt984 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 06:0035.3S 170.3E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 12:0036.7S 171.4E45 kt986 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 18:0038.2S 172.7E45 kt986 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 00:0040.1S 173.8E40 kt986 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 06:0042.4S 174.6E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 12:0045.1S 175.4E40 kt984 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 18:0047.0S 176.0E40 kt981 mbNot reported
Jan 12, 00:0048.5S 177.0E40 kt983 mbNot reported
Jan 12, 06:0049.2S 177.8ENot reported
Jan 12, 12:0049.5S 178.5E35 kt986 mbNot reported
Jan 12, 18:0049.8S 179.2ENot reported
Jan 13, 00:0050.5S 180.5E30 kt993 mbNot reported
Jan 13, 06:0052.0S 183.0E25 kt994 mbNot reported
Jan 13, 12:0053.0S 186.0E20 kt1001 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1997

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.