Cyclone Erica

Severe Tropical Cyclone Erica of March 2003 was a powerful cyclone that severely affected New Caledonia and was considered the worst to affect the country since Cyclone Beti. The system was the eighth cyclone and the fifth severe tropical cyclone of the 2002–03 South Pacific cyclone season. Cyclone Erica developed from a monsoonal trough on 4 March just off Queensland. Originally, the storm moved slowly towards the east and then north early in its existence. However, increasing wind shear caused the storm to be degenerated into a tropical low. After conditions once again became more favorable for development, the remnants regenerated into a tropical cyclone on 10 March. Steadily intensifying, Erica reached peak intensity on 13 March as a Category 5 equivalent on the Australian intensity scale.

On the same day Erica paralleled the coast of New Caledonia before making landfall on the southern end of the island at L'Île-des-Pins. However, at the same time the cyclone also entered an area with strong wind shear and thus began to weaken. After passing the island, an extratropical transition begun, weakening the cyclone as it moved towards the southeast. On 15 March, Erica completed its transition into an extratropical cyclone and later fully dissipated two days later.

Cyclone Erica severely impacted the island nation of New Caledonia, causing intense winds and heavy rain. An estimated 892 families were affected by the cyclone on the island, and two people were killed. As many as 60% of people on the west coast lost power. On 17 March only 17 of the 66 secondary schools on the island were functioning. After the storm it was feared that the existing dengue fever epidemic on the island would spread. Erica caused $15 million (2003 USD) in damages, primarily on New Caledonia. Following the deaths and damage, the name "Erica" was later retired.

Meteorological history

The precursor to Cyclone Erica was an area of low pressure that formed within a monsoon trough north of the Tiwi Islands on 13 February 2003. This low moved into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and then ashore Mainland Australia near the border between Western Australia and Northern Territory on 15 February. It remained over the continent for the latter half of February, taking a track south of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, and then towards Queensland. Now taking an eastward trajectory, the centre of the low emerged into the Coral Sea near the Whitsunday Islands on 3 March. Data from the QuikSCAT satellite showed a center of circulation well-removed from the nearest area of strong winds and rain. However, the abating of wind shear resulted in an increase in the system's organisation with convective activity and the system's circulation becoming better developed. At 06:00  UTC on 4 March, the system was designated as Tropical Cyclone ''Erica'' by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre in Brisbane, Australia (TCWC-Brisbane); it was TCWC-Brisbane's first named system of the 2002–03 Australian region cyclone season. At the time, Erica was located 790 km (490 mi) east-southeast of Townsville, Queensland.

Remaining under the conditions of lessened wind shear, Erica continued to strengthen after being named and attained 10-minute maximum sustained winds of at 18:00 UTC on 4 March. While Erica had initially drifted slowly eastward due to a lack of steering influences, a developing ridge of high pressure to the south and west caused the cyclone to curve towards the north. Along this trajectory, Erica once again encountered unfavorable wind shear and consequently weakened with its winds falling below gale

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases