Cyclone Zoe (2003)
Cyclone Zoe reached Category 5 in the South Pacific between December 23, 2002 and January 4, 2003, with a lowest pressure of 879 mb.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Cyclone Zoe. 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
- December 23, 2002 to January 4, 2003
- Peak strength
- Category 5, 155 kt (178 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 879 mb (25.96 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 276 km (171 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 26.9
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 180 nmi (333 km, 207 mi) from the center at its widest
- Eyewall radius at its peak
- 25 nmi (46 km, 29 mi)
- Overall size
- 150 nmi (278 km, 173 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Fastest the center moved
- 14 kt (16 mph)
- Identifier
- SH062003
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 23, 18:00 | 8.0S 184.5E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 24, 00:00 | 8.3S 183.7E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 24, 06:00 | 8.6S 182.8E | 20 kt | 1001 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 24, 12:00 | 9.0S 178.3W | 15 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 24, 18:00 | 9.7S 179.1W | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 25, 00:00 | 10.4S 180.0W | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 25, 06:00 | 10.8S 178.9E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 25, 12:00 | 10.8S 177.6E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 25, 18:00 | 10.7S 176.4E | 45 kt | 991 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 26, 00:00 | 10.7S 175.4E | 55 kt | 984 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 26, 06:00 | 10.7S 174.6E | 65 kt | 976 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 26, 12:00 | 10.8S 174.0E | 75 kt | 967 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 26, 18:00 | 10.9S 173.4E | 90 kt | 954 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 27, 00:00 | 11.2S 172.5E | 95 kt | 949 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 27, 06:00 | 11.5S 171.5E | 120 kt | 933 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 27, 12:00 | 11.7S 170.7E | 155 kt | 879 mb | Super typhoon |
| Dec 27, 18:00 | 11.9S 170.3E | 155 kt | 879 mb | Super typhoon |
| Dec 28, 00:00 | 12.1S 169.9E | 155 kt | 879 mb | Super typhoon |
| Dec 28, 06:00 | 12.3S 169.5E | 155 kt | 879 mb | Super typhoon |
| Dec 28, 12:00 | 12.4S 169.2E | 145 kt | 892 mb | Super typhoon |
| Dec 28, 18:00 | 12.5S 169.3E | 130 kt | 910 mb | Super typhoon |
| Dec 29, 00:00 | 12.7S 169.5E | 120 kt | 922 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 29, 06:00 | 13.0S 169.9E | 110 kt | 933 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 29, 12:00 | 13.5S 170.4E | 100 kt | 944 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 29, 18:00 | 13.9S 171.0E | 100 kt | 944 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 30, 00:00 | 14.4S 171.5E | 95 kt | 949 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 30, 06:00 | 14.9S 172.0E | 85 kt | 958 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 30, 12:00 | 15.5S 172.3E | 75 kt | 967 mb | Typhoon |
| Dec 30, 18:00 | 16.1S 172.8E | 60 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 31, 00:00 | 16.8S 173.4E | 55 kt | 984 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 31, 06:00 | 17.7S 174.1E | 55 kt | 984 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 31, 12:00 | 18.6S 174.8E | 50 kt | 987 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 31, 18:00 | 19.6S 175.2E | 50 kt | 987 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 1, 00:00 | 20.7S 175.2E | 45 kt | 991 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 1, 06:00 | 21.9S 175.9E | 45 kt | 991 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 1, 12:00 | 22.8S 176.0E | 30 kt | 998 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 1, 18:00 | 24.1S 176.1E | 30 kt | 998 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 2, 00:00 | 25.4S 175.6E | 30 kt | 998 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 2, 06:00 | 26.2S 174.3E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 2, 12:00 | 26.5S 173.0E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 2, 18:00 | 26.7S 171.7E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 3, 00:00 | 26.8S 170.4E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 3, 06:00 | 26.9S 169.4E | 25 kt | 1001 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 3, 12:00 | 26.8S 168.5E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 3, 18:00 | 26.8S 168.1E | 25 kt | 1001 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 4, 00:00 | 26.5S 168.0E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 4, 06:00 | 26.0S 168.2E | 25 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 4, 12:00 | 25.3S 168.4E | 25 kt | 1008 mb | Not reported |
Other South Pacific storms of 2003
- Tropical Storm YolandeSouth Pacific · 2003
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 2003
- Cyclone AmiSouth Pacific · 2003
- Cyclone BeniSouth 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.