The 1997 season

Cyclone Freda (1997)

Cyclone Freda reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between January 20, 1997 and February 5, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Cyclone Freda. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
January 20, 1997 to February 5, 1997
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
980 mb (28.94 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 397 km (247 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
8.8
Identifier
SH221997

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jan 20, 12:0015.9S 172.0E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 20, 18:0016.1S 172.1E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 21, 00:0016.3S 172.2E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 21, 06:0016.5S 172.2E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 21, 12:0016.8S 172.2E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 21, 18:0017.0S 172.2E15 ktTropical storm
Jan 22, 00:0017.3S 172.2E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 22, 06:0017.6S 172.1E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 22, 12:0017.9S 171.9E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 22, 18:0018.1S 171.7E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 23, 00:0018.3S 171.5E20 ktTropical storm
Jan 23, 06:0018.5S 171.3E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 23, 12:0018.8S 171.1E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 23, 18:0019.2S 170.9E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 24, 00:0019.6S 170.9E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 24, 06:0019.8S 171.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 24, 12:0019.9S 171.1E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 24, 18:0020.0S 171.3E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 25, 00:0020.2S 171.7E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 25, 06:0020.4S 172.4E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 25, 12:0020.6S 173.1E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 25, 18:0020.8S 173.8E30 ktTropical storm
Jan 26, 00:0021.0S 174.5E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 26, 06:0021.4S 175.2E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jan 26, 12:0021.8S 175.8E45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Jan 26, 18:0022.4S 176.1E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jan 27, 00:0023.1S 176.3E55 kt987 mbTropical storm
Jan 27, 06:0023.8S 176.5E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 27, 12:0024.5S 176.7E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 27, 18:0025.1S 177.0E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 28, 00:0025.7S 177.3E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 28, 06:0026.1S 177.6E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 28, 12:0026.3S 177.9E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 28, 18:0026.4S 178.2E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 29, 00:0026.5S 178.7E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 29, 06:0026.5S 179.5E60 kt988 mbTropical storm
Jan 29, 12:0026.6S 179.4W60 kt988 mbTropical storm
Jan 29, 18:0027.2S 178.6W60 kt986 mbTropical storm
Jan 30, 00:0027.8S 178.5W55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Jan 30, 06:0028.2S 178.6W55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Jan 30, 12:0028.4S 178.8W55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 30, 18:0028.5S 179.1W55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 00:0028.5S 179.3W50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 06:0028.6S 179.4W50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 12:0028.7S 179.2W50 kt986 mbTropical storm
Jan 31, 18:0028.9S 178.9W45 kt986 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 00:0029.1S 178.5W40 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 06:0029.5S 177.9W40 kt988 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 12:0030.1S 177.0W35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 1, 18:0031.1S 176.6W35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 00:0032.3S 176.4W35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 06:0033.4S 175.7W35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 12:0034.4S 174.7W35 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 2, 18:0035.6S 173.9W35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 00:0037.1S 173.1W35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 3, 06:0040.0S 186.0E30 kt990 mbNot reported
Feb 3, 12:0042.0S 185.0E30 kt990 mbNot reported
Feb 3, 18:0043.2S 184.0E30 kt988 mbNot reported
Feb 4, 00:0045.0S 183.5E30 kt989 mbNot reported
Feb 4, 06:0046.5S 183.5E30 kt990 mbNot reported
Feb 4, 12:0047.8S 183.7E30 kt994 mbNot reported
Feb 4, 18:0049.2S 183.9E30 kt992 mbNot reported
Feb 5, 00:0051.0S 185.0E30 kt990 mbNot reported
Feb 5, 06:0052.0S 188.0E30 kt990 mbNot reported
Feb 5, 12:0053.5S 190.5E30 kt990 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.