The 1998 season

Cyclone Osea (1998)

Cyclone Osea reached Category 2 in the South Pacific between November 21, 1997 and November 28, 1997, with a lowest pressure of 950 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Osea, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1998 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
November 21, 1997 to November 28, 1997
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
950 mb (28.05 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1575 km (979 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.5
Fastest the center moved
12 kt (14 mph)
Identifier
SH061998

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Nov 21, 18:009.2S 156.7W20 ktTropical storm
Nov 22, 00:009.5S 156.5W30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 06:009.7S 156.3W30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 12:009.9S 156.2W30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 18:0010.0S 156.3W30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 00:009.9S 156.7W30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 06:009.9S 157.1W30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 12:0010.1S 157.3W35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 18:0010.7S 157.5W35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 00:0011.6S 157.7W35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 06:0012.9S 157.7W35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 12:0013.5S 157.2W55 kt987 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 18:0013.8S 156.4W55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 00:0013.9S 155.5W55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 06:0014.2S 154.6W65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 12:0014.7S 153.9W65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 18:0015.3S 153.2W75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 00:0016.2S 152.5W75 kt955 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 06:0017.3S 151.9W90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 12:0018.2S 151.4W90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 18:0018.9S 150.8W75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 00:0019.7S 150.2W55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 06:0020.3S 149.4W35 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 12:0020.4S 150.6W50 kt985 mbNot reported
Nov 27, 18:0020.7S 150.3W45 kt987 mbNot reported
Nov 28, 00:0021.2S 149.2W35 kt995 mbNot reported
Nov 28, 06:0021.4S 148.0W30 kt998 mbNot reported
Nov 28, 12:0021.5S 147.1W25 kt1000 mbNot reported

Other South Pacific storms of 1998

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.