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2017–18 South Pacific Cyclone Season
The 2017–18 South Pacific cyclone season was a slightly below-average season that produced 6 tropical cyclones, 3 of which became severe tropical cyclones. The season officially began on November 1, 2017, and ended on April 30, 2018; however, a tropical cyclone could have formed at any time between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2018, and would count towards the season total. During the season, tropical cyclones were officially monitored by the Fiji Meteorological Service, MetService and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, while the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) also monitored the basin and issued warnings for American interests. The FMS attaches a number and an F suffix to significant tropical disturbances that form in or move into the basin, while the JTWC designates significant tropical cyclones with a number and a P suffix. The BoM, FMS and MetService all use the Australian Tropical Cyclone Intensity Scale and estimate wind speeds over a period of ten minutes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyclone Gita
Severe Tropical Cyclone Gita was the most intense tropical cyclone to impact Tonga since reliable records began. The second named storm and first major tropical cyclone of the 2017–18 South Pacific cyclone season, Gita originated from a monsoon trough that was active in the South Pacific in early February 2018. First classified as a tropical disturbance on 3 February, the nascent system meandered near Vanuatu for several days with little development. After acquiring a steady east trajectory near Fiji, it organized into a Category 1 tropical cyclone on 9 February near Samoa. Arcing south in a clockwise turn, the system rapidly intensified, and became a severe tropical cyclone on 10 February near Niue. Throughout its path in the South Pacific, Cyclone Gita affected multiple island nations and territories. Tonga was the hardest-hit, with severe damage occurring on the islands of Tongatapu and ʻEua; two fatalities and forty-one injuries occurred in the kingdom. At least 171&nb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2008–09 South Pacific Cyclone Season
The 2008–09 South Pacific cyclone season was a below average tropical cyclone season, which featured six named tropical cyclones compared to an average of about nine. Ahead of the season officially starting on November 1, 2008, the Island Climate Update tropical cyclone outlook predicted that the season, would feature an average risk of tropical cyclones impacting the South Pacific between 160°E and 120°W. The first tropical disturbance of the season developed to the northeast of the Samoan Islands on December 1, however, it remained weak and was last noted during the next day. Seasonal forecasts Ahead of the cyclone season formally starting on November 1, 2008, New Zealand's MetService and National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS), as well as various other Pacific Meteorological services, all contributed towards the Island Climate Update tropical cyclone outlook that was released during September 2008. The outlook t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Cyclone Scales
Tropical cyclones are ranked on one of five tropical cyclone intensity scales, according to their maximum sustained winds and which tropical cyclone basins they are located in. Only a few classifications are used officially by the meteorological agencies monitoring the tropical cyclones, but other scales also exist, such as accumulated cyclone energy, the Power Dissipation Index, the Integrated Kinetic Energy Index, and the Hurricane Severity Index. Tropical cyclones that develop in the Northern Hemisphere are classified by the warning centres on one of three intensity scales. Tropical cyclones or subtropical cyclones that exist within the North Atlantic Ocean or the North-eastern Pacific Ocean are classified as either tropical depressions or tropical storms. Should a system intensify further and become a hurricane, then it will be classified on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, and is based on the estimated maximum sustained winds over a 1-minute period. In the W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyclone Hola
Severe Tropical Cyclone Hola had significant effects across Vanuatu in March 2018, resulting in the deaths of three people. Forming as a broad tropical disturbance on 5 March, the system slowly consolidated over the next few days before developing into a tropical cyclone on 6 March. Afterwards, a pinhole eye began to emerge and rapid intensification ensued. Cyclone Hola caused extensive damage in Vanuatu, damaging or destroying 1,709 structures, ruining crops, and killing three people. Impacts were most severe in Ambrym where half of the areas homes were damaged and people suffered from food shortages. Ambae, already dealing with the disruptive effects of a volcanic eruption, had major damage. Several other provinces reported varying degrees of lesser impact. Fiji, New Caledonia, and New Zealand were also affected by the cyclone. The former two experienced negligible effects while the latter saw heavy rain and strong winds. Effects in New Zealand were less than initially fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitcairn Islands
The Pitcairn Islands ( ; Pitkern: '), officially Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, are a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four islands—Pitcairn Island, Pitcairn, Henderson Island (Pitcairn Islands), Henderson, Ducie Island, Ducie and Oeno Island, Oeno—are scattered across several hundred kilometres of ocean and have a combined land area of about 47 square kilometres (18 square miles). Henderson Island accounts for 86% of the land area, but only Pitcairn Island is inhabited. The inhabited islands nearest to the Pitcairn Islands are Mangareva (of French Polynesia), 688 km to the west, as well as Easter Island, 1,929 km to the east. The Pitcairn Islanders are descended mostly from nine British people, British Mutiny on the Bounty, HMS ''Bounty'' mutineers and twelve Tahitians, Tahitian women. In 2023, the territory had 35 perman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kiribati
Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The state comprises list of islands of Kiribati, 32 atolls and one remote raised coral atoll, raised coral island, Banaba. Its total land area is dispersed over of ocean. The islands' spread straddles the equator and the 180th meridian. The International Date Line goes around Kiribati and swings far to the east, almost reaching 150th meridian west, 150°W. This brings Kiribati's easternmost islands, the southern Line Islands south of Hawaii, into the same day as the Gilbert Islands and places them in the most advanced time zone on Earth: UTC+14:00, UTC+14. Kiribati gained its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming a sovereign state in 1979. The capital, South Tarawa, now the most populated area, consists of a number of islets, connect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Cook Islands
The Northern Cook Islands is one of the two chains of atolls which make up the Cook Islands. Lying in a horizontal band between 9° and 13°30' south of the Equator, the chain consists of the atolls of Manihiki, Nassau, Penrhyn, Pukapuka, Rakahanga and Suwarrow, along with the submerged Tema Reef. Geography The chain forms a roughly inverted triangular shape, stretching from Penrhyn in the northeast to Pukapuka in the northwest and to Suwarrow in the south. The Northern Cook Islands are separated from the Southern Cook Islands by a wide stretch of the Pacific Ocean, with the nearest part of the Southern chain being Palmerston Island, due south of Suwarrow. With an area of just 21 sq. km. and a population of 1,041 (according to the 2016 census), the islands only account for some 6% of the Cooks' population and 9% of the land area. Almost all of this population is on the three islands of Pukapuka, Manihiki, and Penrhyn. The two chains are also geographically different: altho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wallis And Futuna
Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (), is a French island territorial collectivity, collectivity in the Oceania, South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast, Samoa to the east, and Tokelau to the northeast. Mata Utu is its capital and largest city. The territory's land area is . It had a population of 11,151 at the July 2023 census (down from 14,944 at the 2003 census). The territory is made up of three main volcano, volcanic tropical islands and a number of tiny islets. It is divided into two island groups that lie about apart: the Wallis Islands (also known as Uvea (Wallis and Futuna), Uvea) in the northeast; and the Hoorn Islands (also known as the Futuna Islands) in the southwest, including Futuna Island, Wallis and Futuna, Futuna Island proper and the mostly uninhabited Alofi Island. Since 28 March 2003, Wallis and Futuna has been a Overseas collectivity, French overseas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuvalu
Tuvalu ( ) is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Vanuatu, southeast of Nauru, south of Kiribati, west of Tokelau, northwest of Samoa and Wallis and Futuna, and north of Fiji. Tuvalu is composed of three reef islands and six atolls spread out between the latitude of 5th parallel south, 5° and 10th parallel south, 10° south and between the longitude of 176th meridian east, 176° and 180th meridian, 180°. They lie west of the International Date Line. The 2022 census determined that Tuvalu had a population of 10,643, making it List of countries and dependencies by population, the second-least populous country in the world, behind Vatican City. Tuvalu's total land area is . The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesians arriving as part of the History of the Polynesian people, migration of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokelau
Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo. They have a combined land area of . In addition to these three, Swains Island (), which forms part of the same archipelago, is the subject of an ongoing territorial dispute; it is currently administered by the United States as part of American Samoa. Tokelau lies north of the Samoan Islands, east of Tuvalu, south of the Phoenix Islands, southwest of the more distant Line Islands, and northwest of the Cook Islands. Tokelau has a population of approximately 1,500 people; it has the List of countries and dependencies by population#Sovereign states and dependencies by population, fourth-smallest population of any sovereign state or dependency in the world. As of the 2016 census, around 45% of its residents List of sovereign states a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niue
Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is commonly referred to as "The Rock", which comes from the traditional name "Rock of Polynesia". Niue's position is inside a triangle drawn between Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. It is northeast of New Zealand, and northeast of Tonga. Niue's land area is about and its population was 1,689 at the Census in 2022. The terrain of the island has two noticeable levels. The higher level is made up of a limestone cliff running along the coast, with a plateau in the centre of the island reaching approximately above sea level. The lower level is a coastal terrace approximately 0.5 km (0.3 miles) wide and about 25–27 metres (80–90 feet) high, which slopes down and meets the sea in small cliffs. A coral reef surrounds the island; the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono and Apolima), and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the Aleipata Islands (Nuʻutele, Nuʻulua, Fanuatapu and Namua). Samoa is located west of American Samoa, northeast of Tonga, northeast of Fiji, east of Wallis and Futuna, southeast of Tuvalu, south of Tokelau, southwest of Hawaii, and northwest of Niue. The capital and largest city is Apia. The Lapita culture, Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a Samoan language and Culture of Samoa, Samoan cultural identity. Samoa is a Unitary state, unitary Parliamentary system, parliamentary democracy with 11 Districts of Samoa, administrative divisions. It is a sovereign state and a membe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
