The 1972–73 South Pacific cyclone season ran year-round from July 1 to June 30. Tropical cyclone activity in the Southern Hemisphere reaches its peak from mid-February to early March.
Seasonal summary
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Period = from:01/10/1972 till:01/05/1973
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from:19/10/1972 till:28/10/1972 color:C3 text:" Bebe"
from:02/11/1972 till:03/11/1972 color:C1 text:"Collette"
from:08/12/1972 till:18/12/1972 color:C3 text:"Diana"
from:14/01/1973 till:18/01/1973 color:C1 text:"Felicity"
from:31/01/1973 till:07/02/1973 color:C2 text:"Elenore"
from:31/01/1973 till:01/02/1973 color:C1 text:"Glenda"
from:28/02/1973 till:02/03/1973 color:C1 text:"Henrietta"
from:02/04/1973 till:06/04/1973 color:C2 text:"Juliette"
bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas
from:01/10/1972 till:01/11/1972 text:October
from:01/11/1972 till:01/12/1972 text:November
from:01/12/1972 till:01/01/1973 text:December
from:01/01/1973 till:01/02/1973 text:January
from:01/02/1973 till:01/03/1973 text:February
from:01/03/1973 till:01/04/1973 text:March
from:01/04/1973 till:01/05/1973 text:April
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text:"(For further details, please see"
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text:" scales
Scale or scales may refer to:
Mathematics
* Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points
* Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original
* Scale factor, a number ...
)"
Systems
Severe Tropical Cyclone Bebe
Tropical
Cyclone Bebe was a pre-season storm that impacted the
Gilbert,
Ellice, and
Fiji
Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
island groups.
[Bureau of Meteorology (1975) ''Tropical Cyclones in the Northern Australian Regions 1971-1972'' Australian Government Publishing Service] First spotted on October 20, the system intensified and grew in size through October 22. Its course began along a south-southwest trajectory before recurving near the 14th parallel south, which resulted in a south-southeast motion through the western portion of the Fiji island group.
It became the first cyclone to impact Fiji since 1952. On October 24, winds of or more were reported on
Rotuma
Rotuma () is a self-governing heptarchy, generally designated a Local government in Fiji, dependency of Fiji. Rotuma commonly refers to the Rotuma Island, the only permanently inhabited and by far the largest of all the islands in the Rotuma Gro ...
and
Viti Levu
Viti Levu (pronounced ; ) is the largest island in Fiji. It is the site of the country's capital and largest city, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population.
Geology
Fiji lies in a plate tectonics, tectonically complex area betwe ...
. Cyclone Bebe passed through
Funafuti
Funafuti is an atoll, comprising numerous islets, that serves as the capital of Tuvalu. As of the 2017 census, it has a population of 6,320 people. More people live in Funafuti than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with it containing approximately 6 ...
on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22 October 1972. At about 4 p.m. on the 21st, sea water was bubbling through the coral on the airfield with the water reaching a height of about 4 –5 feet high. The Ellice Islands Colony's ship ''Moanaraoi'' was in the lagoon and survived, however 3 tuna boats were wrecked. Waves broke over the atoll. Five people died, two adults and a 3 month old child were swept away by waves, and two sailors from the tuna boats were drowned.
Cyclone Bebe knocked down 90% of the houses and trees. The storm surge created a wall of coral rubble along the ocean side of
Funafuti
Funafuti is an atoll, comprising numerous islets, that serves as the capital of Tuvalu. As of the 2017 census, it has a population of 6,320 people. More people live in Funafuti than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with it containing approximately 6 ...
and
Funafala that was about ten to twelve miles long, and about ten to twenty feet thick at the bottom.
The cyclone submerged
Funafuti
Funafuti is an atoll, comprising numerous islets, that serves as the capital of Tuvalu. As of the 2017 census, it has a population of 6,320 people. More people live in Funafuti than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with it containing approximately 6 ...
and sources of drinking water were contaminated as a result of the system's
storm surge
A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...
and fresh water flooding. After passing by the
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
, Bebe transitioned into an
extratropical cyclone
Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...
, with the remnants last noted on October 28.
A total of 28 people died and thousands were left homeless. Damages totaled $20 million (1972
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
).
Tropical Cyclone Collette
Collette existed from November 2 to November 3.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Diana
Diana existed from December 6 to December 18.
Tropical Cyclone Felicity
Felicity existed from January 14 to January 18.
Tropical Cyclone Elenore
Elenore existed from January 31 to February 7.
Tropical Cyclone Glenda
Glenda existed from January 31 to February 1.
Tropical Cyclone Henrietta
Tropical Cyclone Juliette
Juliette existed from April 2 to April 6.
Seasonal effects
, -
, Bebe , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Tuvalu, Fiji , , , , , ,
, -
, Collette , , , , bgcolor=#, Category 1 tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , ,
, -
, Diana , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , ,
, -
, Felicity , , , , bgcolor=#, Category 1 tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , ,
, -
, Elenore , , , , bgcolor=#, Category 2 tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Fiji, Tonga , , , , , ,
, -
, Glenda , , , , bgcolor=#, Category 1 tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , ,
, -
, Henrietta , , , , bgcolor=#, Category 1 tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , ,
, -
, Juliette , , , , bgcolor=#, Category 2 tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Fiji, Tonga , , , , , ,
, -
See also
* Atlantic hurricane seasons:
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
,
1973
Events January
* January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
* Eastern Pacific hurricane seasons:
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
,
1973
Events January
* January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
* Western Pacific typhoon seasons:
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
,
1973
Events January
* January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
* North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons:
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
,
1973
Events January
* January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:1972-73 South Pacific cyclone season
South Pacific cyclone seasons
Articles which contain graphical timelines