The 2013 season

Cyclone Freda (2013)

Cyclone Freda reached Category 3 in the South Pacific between December 26, 2012 and January 3, 2013, with a lowest pressure of 941 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Freda, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2013 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
December 26, 2012 to January 3, 2013
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
941 mb (27.79 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
11.9
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
95 nmi (176 km, 109 mi) from the center at its widest
Hurricane-force wind reached
35 nmi (65 km, 40 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
10 nmi (19 km, 12 mi)
Overall size
200 nmi (370 km, 230 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
17 kt (20 mph)
Identifier
SH052013

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Dec 26, 12:007.5S 164.9ETropical storm
Dec 26, 18:008.1S 164.2ETropical storm
Dec 27, 00:009.0S 164.0ETropical storm
Dec 27, 06:008.6S 164.4E20 kt1007 mbDisturbance
Dec 27, 12:009.0S 163.6E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Dec 27, 18:009.2S 162.7E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 28, 00:009.7S 161.6E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 28, 06:0010.4S 160.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Dec 28, 12:0011.1S 160.4E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Dec 28, 18:0011.7S 160.1E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 00:0012.3S 159.9E55 kt982 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 06:0012.7S 160.0E60 kt978 mbTropical storm
Dec 29, 12:0013.0S 160.3E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Dec 29, 18:0013.5S 160.4E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Dec 30, 00:0014.0S 160.7E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Dec 30, 06:0014.6S 160.9E100 kt948 mbTyphoon
Dec 30, 12:0015.3S 161.1E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Dec 30, 18:0015.9S 161.1E110 kt941 mbTyphoon
Dec 31, 00:0016.4S 161.1E105 kt944 mbTyphoon
Dec 31, 06:0016.9S 161.3E95 kt952 mbTyphoon
Dec 31, 12:0017.4S 161.6E90 kt956 mbTyphoon
Dec 31, 18:0017.9S 161.5E80 kt963 mbTyphoon
Jan 1, 00:0018.4S 161.4E70 kt970 mbTyphoon
Jan 1, 06:0019.0S 161.6E65 kt974 mbTyphoon
Jan 1, 12:0019.4S 161.9E45 kt989 mbTropical storm
Jan 1, 18:0019.5S 162.4E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 00:0020.1S 163.1E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 06:0020.1S 164.2E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 12:0020.7S 165.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 18:0021.3S 167.3E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jan 3, 00:0021.4S 168.4E40 kt993 mbExtratropical
Jan 3, 06:0021.8S 170.1E45 kt989 mbExtratropical
Jan 3, 12:0022.1S 171.6E40 kt993 mbExtratropical
Jan 3, 18:0022.4S 172.9E40 kt993 mbExtratropical

Other South Pacific storms of 2013

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.