Cyclone Beni (2003)
Cyclone Beni reached Category 4 in the South Pacific between January 20, 2003 and February 5, 2003, with a lowest pressure of 916 mb, and made landfall.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Cyclone Beni. 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
- January 20, 2003 to February 5, 2003
- Peak strength
- Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 916 mb (27.05 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 15.0
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 130 nmi (241 km, 150 mi) from the center at its widest
- Eyewall radius at its peak
- 20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi)
- Overall size
- 180 nmi (333 km, 207 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Fastest the center moved
- 19 kt (22 mph)
- Identifier
- SH122003
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 20, 18:00 | 9.9S 163.1E | 15 kt | 1005 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 21, 00:00 | 10.0S 163.0E | 15 kt | 1005 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 21, 06:00 | 10.1S 162.9E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 21, 12:00 | 10.2S 162.8E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 21, 18:00 | 10.3S 162.7E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 22, 00:00 | 10.4S 162.6E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 22, 06:00 | 10.5S 162.5E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 22, 12:00 | 10.7S 162.4E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 22, 18:00 | 10.9S 162.2E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 23, 00:00 | 11.1S 162.1E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 23, 06:00 | 11.3S 161.9E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 23, 12:00 | 11.6S 161.7E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 23, 18:00 | 11.9S 161.6E | 25 kt | 999 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 24, 00:00 | 12.2S 161.5E | 25 kt | 999 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 24, 06:00 | 12.4S 161.4E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 24, 12:00 | 12.9S 162.0E | 20 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical depression |
| Jan 24, 18:00 | 13.0S 161.7E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Jan 25, 00:00 | 13.1S 161.4E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Jan 25, 06:00 | 13.1S 161.1E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 25, 12:00 | 12.9S 160.9E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 25, 18:00 | 12.6S 160.8E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 26, 00:00 | 12.4S 161.0E | 40 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 26, 06:00 | 12.4S 161.3E | 45 kt | 991 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 26, 12:00 | 12.7S 161.3E | 50 kt | 987 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 26, 18:00 | 12.9S 161.1E | 55 kt | 984 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 27, 00:00 | 13.0S 160.8E | 55 kt | 984 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 27, 06:00 | 13.4S 160.7E | 55 kt | 984 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 27, 12:00 | 13.8S 160.8E | 55 kt | 984 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 27, 18:00 | 14.2S 160.6E | 60 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 28, 00:00 | 14.7S 160.7E | 75 kt | 967 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 28, 06:00 | 15.2S 160.8E | 80 kt | 963 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 28, 12:00 | 15.6S 161.1E | 90 kt | 954 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 28, 18:00 | 16.0S 161.8E | 115 kt | 927 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 29, 00:00 | 16.5S 162.7E | 125 kt | 916 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 29, 06:00 | 17.1S 163.7E | 125 kt | 916 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 29, 12:00 | 17.8S 164.9E | 125 kt | 916 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 29, 18:00 | 18.3S 166.2E | 115 kt | 927 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 30, 00:00 | 19.1S 167.7E | 105 kt | 938 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 30, 06:00 | 19.9S 168.8E | 90 kt | 954 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 30, 12:00 | 20.8S 169.3E | 75 kt | 967 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 30, 18:00 | 21.6S 169.0E | 60 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 31, 00:00 | 22.3S 168.0E | 40 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 31, 06:00 | 23.1S 166.8E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 31, 12:00 | 24.1S 165.2E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Jan 31, 18:00 | 24.3S 163.1E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 1, 00:00 | 23.8S 161.7E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 1, 06:00 | 23.4S 160.6E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 1, 12:00 | 23.1S 159.6E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 1, 18:00 | 22.6S 158.7E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 2, 00:00 | 22.3S 158.0E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 2, 06:00 | 22.0S 157.4E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 2, 12:00 | 21.5S 156.6E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 2, 18:00 | 21.1S 155.8E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 3, 00:00 | 20.9S 154.7E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 3, 06:00 | 20.5S 153.7E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 3, 12:00 | 20.3S 153.2E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 3, 18:00 | 20.5S 152.7E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 4, 00:00 | 20.7S 152.1E | 20 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 4, 06:00 | 20.6S 151.3E | 20 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 4, 12:00 | 20.2S 150.6E | 20 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 4, 18:00 | 19.9S 150.2E | 20 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical depression |
| Feb 5, 00:00 | 20.1S 149.7E | 20 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical depression |
Other South Pacific storms of 2003
- Tropical Storm YolandeSouth Pacific · 2003
- Cyclone ZoeSouth Pacific · 2003
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 2003
- Cyclone AmiSouth Pacific · 2003
- Tropical Storm CillaSouth Pacific · 2003
- Cyclone DoviSouth Pacific · 2003
- Cyclone EricaSouth Pacific · 2003
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 2003
- Cyclone EsetaSouth Pacific · 2003
- Tropical Storm FiliSouth Pacific · 2003
- Cyclone GinaSouth Pacific · 2003
- Tropical Storm EpiSouth Pacific · 2003
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.