Cyclone Heta (2004)
Cyclone Heta reached Category 5 in the South Pacific between December 25, 2003 and January 12, 2004, with a lowest pressure of 898 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Cyclone Heta, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2004 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- South Pacific
- Dates
- December 25, 2003 to January 12, 2004
- Peak strength
- Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 898 mb (26.52 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 127 km (79 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 23.4
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 220 nmi (407 km, 253 mi) from the center at its widest
- Eyewall radius at its peak
- 10 nmi (19 km, 12 mi)
- Overall size
- 315 nmi (583 km, 362 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Fastest the center moved
- 29 kt (33 mph)
- Identifier
- SH072004
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 25, 06:00 | 15.0S 176.5E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 25, 12:00 | 15.1S 177.2E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 25, 18:00 | 15.1S 178.0E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 26, 00:00 | 15.1S 178.4E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 26, 06:00 | 15.2S 178.6E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 26, 12:00 | 15.2S 178.7E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 26, 18:00 | 15.2S 179.0E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 27, 00:00 | 15.2S 179.2E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 27, 06:00 | 15.0S 179.4E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 27, 12:00 | 14.9S 179.6E | 15 kt | 1004 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 27, 18:00 | 14.9S 179.8E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 28, 00:00 | 14.8S 180.0E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 28, 06:00 | 14.8S 180.2E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 28, 12:00 | 14.7S 180.3E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 28, 18:00 | 14.6S 180.4E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 29, 00:00 | 14.6S 180.5E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 29, 06:00 | 14.5S 180.7E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Dec 29, 12:00 | 14.3S 180.0W | 20 kt | 1004 mb | Disturbance |
| Dec 29, 18:00 | 13.6S 179.7W | 20 kt | 1004 mb | Disturbance |
| Dec 30, 00:00 | 13.2S 179.1W | 25 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 30, 06:00 | 12.9S 178.6W | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 30, 12:00 | 12.7S 178.1W | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 30, 18:00 | 12.6S 177.7W | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 31, 00:00 | 12.6S 177.4W | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 31, 06:00 | 12.7S 177.1W | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 31, 12:00 | 12.3S 176.6W | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Dec 31, 18:00 | 11.6S 176.1W | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Jan 1, 00:00 | 10.5S 175.8W | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical depression |
| Jan 1, 06:00 | 9.5S 175.4W | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 1, 12:00 | 8.6S 175.1W | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 1, 18:00 | 8.1S 174.8W | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 2, 00:00 | 8.0S 174.4W | 40 kt | 994 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 2, 06:00 | 8.0S 174.1W | 45 kt | 991 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 2, 12:00 | 8.2S 173.9W | 50 kt | 987 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 2, 18:00 | 8.6S 173.8W | 55 kt | 984 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 3, 00:00 | 9.2S 173.8W | 60 kt | 990 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 3, 06:00 | 9.8S 173.9W | 65 kt | 976 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 3, 12:00 | 10.5S 174.0W | 65 kt | 976 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 3, 18:00 | 10.6S 174.6W | 75 kt | 967 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 4, 00:00 | 11.2S 174.8W | 75 kt | 967 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 4, 06:00 | 11.7S 174.5W | 85 kt | 973 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 4, 12:00 | 12.3S 174.3W | 105 kt | 938 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 4, 18:00 | 13.2S 174.1W | 125 kt | 936 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 5, 00:00 | 14.0S 173.9W | 140 kt | 921 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 5, 06:00 | 14.6S 173.4W | 140 kt | 898 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 5, 12:00 | 15.6S 172.9W | 140 kt | 898 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 5, 18:00 | 16.8S 171.9W | 130 kt | 931 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 6, 00:00 | 18.2S 170.8W | 130 kt | 931 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 6, 06:00 | 19.8S 169.7W | 120 kt | 922 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 6, 12:00 | 21.3S 168.4W | 115 kt | 927 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 6, 18:00 | 22.9S 167.1W | 105 kt | 938 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 7, 00:00 | 24.4S 165.4W | 95 kt | 966 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 7, 06:00 | 26.2S 164.0W | 80 kt | 976 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 7, 12:00 | 27.7S 162.3W | 65 kt | 976 mb | Typhoon |
| Jan 7, 18:00 | 28.9S 160.8W | 50 kt | 997 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 8, 00:00 | 30.3S 159.7W | 45 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical cyclone |
| Jan 8, 06:00 | 31.6S 158.9W | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Extratropical |
| Jan 8, 12:00 | 32.5S 158.2W | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Extratropical |
| Jan 8, 18:00 | 33.2S 157.7W | 40 kt | 994 mb | Extratropical |
| Jan 9, 00:00 | 33.7S 157.3W | 35 kt | 997 mb | Extratropical |
| Jan 9, 06:00 | 34.2S 156.9W | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Extratropical |
| Jan 9, 12:00 | 34.8S 156.4W | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Extratropical |
| Jan 9, 18:00 | 33.3S 200.2E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 10, 00:00 | 33.4S 199.6E | 35 kt | 993 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 10, 06:00 | 33.5S 198.5E | 35 kt | 994 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 10, 12:00 | 33.2S 195.0E | 35 kt | 995 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 10, 18:00 | 32.0S 193.5E | 35 kt | 995 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 11, 00:00 | 30.7S 193.0E | 35 kt | 995 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 11, 06:00 | 30.6S 192.8E | 35 kt | 995 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 11, 12:00 | 30.5S 192.6E | 30 kt | 996 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 11, 18:00 | 30.5S 192.5E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 12, 00:00 | 30.4S 192.4E | 30 kt | 999 mb | Not reported |
Other South Pacific storms of 2004
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.