The 1997 season

Tropical Storm Harold (1997)

Tropical Storm Harold peaked at 55 kt in the South Pacific between February 14, 1997 and February 24, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 975 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Harold, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
South Pacific
Dates
February 14, 1997 to February 24, 1997
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 55 kt (63 mph)
Lowest pressure
975 mb (28.79 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 60 km (37 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.8
Identifier
SH261997

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Feb 14, 06:0011.0S 163.0E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 14, 12:0011.0S 163.0E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 14, 18:0011.3S 162.5E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 15, 00:0011.8S 161.8E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 15, 06:0012.3S 160.9E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 15, 12:0012.7S 160.1E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 15, 18:0012.8S 159.5E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 16, 00:0013.0S 159.0E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 16, 06:0013.3S 158.4E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 12:0013.8S 157.8E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 18:0014.4S 157.2E30 kt995 mbTropical storm
Feb 17, 00:0015.2S 156.5E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 17, 06:0015.9S 155.9E40 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 17, 12:0016.4S 155.2E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 17, 18:0016.9S 155.1E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 00:0017.3S 155.1E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 06:0017.7S 155.5E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 12:0017.9S 156.2E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 18:0018.2S 157.0E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 00:0018.6S 157.7E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 06:0019.0S 158.5E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 12:0019.6S 159.3E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 18:0020.4S 160.3E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 20, 00:0021.2S 161.3E50 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 20, 06:0022.1S 162.3E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 20, 12:0023.1S 163.2E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Feb 20, 18:0024.3S 164.0E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Feb 21, 00:0025.9S 164.5E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Feb 21, 06:0027.5S 165.0E25 kt991 mbMixed
Feb 21, 12:0029.4S 165.1E25 kt991 mbMixed
Feb 21, 18:0030.9S 165.4E25 kt991 mbMixed
Feb 22, 00:0032.0S 165.7E25 kt994 mbMixed
Feb 22, 06:0032.9S 166.4E25 kt996 mbMixed
Feb 22, 12:0033.7S 167.4E25 kt998 mbMixed
Feb 22, 18:0034.5S 168.5E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 23, 00:0033.5S 170.0E25 kt1002 mbNot reported
Feb 23, 06:0033.2S 171.3ENot reported
Feb 23, 12:0032.8S 172.5E25 kt1004 mbNot reported
Feb 23, 18:0032.4S 173.8ENot reported
Feb 24, 00:0032.0S 175.0E25 kt1007 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.