The 2020 season

Tropical Storm Esther (2020)

Tropical Storm Esther peaked at 50 kt in the South Pacific between February 21, 2020 and March 4, 2020, with a lowest pressure of 992 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Esther, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2020 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
February 21, 2020 to March 4, 2020
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 50 kt (58 mph)
Lowest pressure
992 mb (29.29 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
2.4
Identifier
SH192020

Deaths and damage

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Feb 21, 00:0013.4S 139.8E15 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Feb 21, 06:0013.4S 139.4E15 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Feb 21, 12:0013.3S 139.1E15 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Feb 21, 18:0013.4S 138.8E20 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Feb 22, 00:0013.5S 138.6E20 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Feb 22, 06:0013.2S 138.0E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Feb 22, 12:0013.5S 138.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Feb 22, 18:0014.0S 138.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Feb 23, 00:0014.4S 139.0E30 kt1001 mbTropical depression
Feb 23, 06:0014.8S 139.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 23, 12:0015.4S 139.3E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 23, 18:0016.1S 139.2E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 00:0016.7S 138.4E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 06:0016.7S 137.8E50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 12:0016.9S 137.2E40 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 18:0017.0S 136.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 25, 00:0017.2S 135.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 25, 06:0017.2S 135.0E30 kt998 mbTropical depression
Feb 25, 12:0017.2S 134.2E30 kt999 mbTropical depression
Feb 25, 18:0016.9S 133.7E30 kt998 mbTropical depression
Feb 26, 00:0016.5S 133.3E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 06:0016.1S 132.6E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 12:0015.9S 131.9E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 18:0015.8S 131.3E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 00:0015.5S 130.5E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 06:0015.3S 129.9E35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 12:0015.2S 129.4E35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 18:0015.2S 128.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 00:0015.3S 128.3E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 06:0015.5S 127.1E35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 12:0015.6S 125.7E35 kt999 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 18:0015.8S 124.9E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Feb 29, 00:0016.2S 124.3E30 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 29, 06:0016.8S 123.9E30 kt996 mbTropical depression
Feb 29, 12:0017.3S 123.6E25 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Feb 29, 18:0018.1S 123.8E25 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Mar 1, 00:0018.2S 124.1E25 kt1001 mbTropical depression
Mar 1, 06:0018.2S 124.4E15 kt1004 mbDisturbance
Mar 1, 12:0018.6S 125.2E20 kt994 mbTropical storm
Mar 1, 18:0018.8S 126.2E20 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 2, 00:0018.8S 126.8E20 kt996 mbTropical storm
Mar 2, 06:0018.6S 127.8E20 kt998 mbTropical storm
Mar 2, 12:0018.6S 128.5E20 kt998 mbTropical storm
Mar 2, 18:0018.7S 129.3E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 3, 00:0018.7S 130.0E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 3, 06:0019.0S 130.8E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 3, 12:0019.2S 132.5E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 3, 18:0019.5S 133.3E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Mar 4, 00:0019.8S 134.0E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm

Other South Pacific storms of 2020

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.