The 2004–05 South Pacific cyclone season was an above-average season in which

tropical cyclones A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dep ...

formed within the

South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

to the east of 160°E. The season officially ran from November 1, 2004 to April 30, 2005, however a tropical cyclone could form at any time between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005 and would count towards the season total. The season got off to an early start, when Tropical Depression 01F developed near the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its ca ...

on October 28, three days before the official start of the season. The final disturbance of the season dissipated as the season was drawing to a close on May 1. The season was above-average in terms of activity, with 9 tropical cyclones and 5 severe tropical cyclones forming during the season. The season featured

Cyclone Percy Cyclone Percy was the seventh named storm of the 2004–05 South Pacific cyclone season and the fourth and final severe tropical cyclone to form during the 2004–05 South Pacific cyclone season. Cyclone Percy originated as a tropical disturbance ...

, the most intense of the season in terms of pressure. During the season, tropical cyclones are officially monitored by the

Fiji Meteorological Service The Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) is a Department of the government of Fiji responsible for providing weather forecasts and is based on the grounds of Nadi Airport in Nadi. The current director of Fiji Meteorological Service is Misaeli Funa ...

(FMS), Australian

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together ...

(BOM) and New Zealand's

MetService Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited (MetService - Te Ratonga Tirorangi) is the national meteorological service of New Zealand. MetService was established as a State-owned enterprises of New Zealand, state-owned enterprise in 1992. It ...

. The

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

through the

Joint Typhoon Warning Center The Joint typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...

(JTWC) also monitors the basin and issue unofficial warnings for American interests. The FMS attaches a number and an F suffix to 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 FMS, BoM and MetService all use the

Australian Tropical Cyclone Intensity Scale 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 scales of classifications are used officially by the m ...

and estimate wind speeds over a period of ten minutes, while the JTWC estimated sustained winds over a 1-minute period, which are subsequently compared to the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS).

Seasonal summary

ImageSize = width:800 height:200 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:270 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/10/2004 till:01/06/2005 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/10/2004 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:DI value:rgb(0.5,0.8,1) legend:Tropical_Disturbance_=_<48_km/h_(<30 mph) id:DE value:rgb(0.25,0.65,1) legend:Tropical_Depression_=_48-63_km/h_(30-39_mph) id:C1 value:rgb(0,0.98,0.96) legend:Category_1_=_63-87_km/h_(39-54_mph) id:C2 value:rgb(0.80,1,1) legend:Category_2_=_88-142_km/h_(55-74_mph) id:C3 value:rgb(1,1,0.80) legend:Category_3_=_143-158-km/h_(75-98_mph) id:C4 value:rgb(1,0.76,0.25) legend:Category_4_=_159-204_km/h_(99-127_mph) id:C5 value:rgb(1,0.38,0.38) legend:Category_5_=_≥205_km/h_(≥128_mph) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:28/10/2004 till:30/10/2004 color:DE text:"01F (TD)" from:03/12/2004 till:14/12/2004 color:DE text:"02F (TD)" from:05/12/2004 till:10/12/2004 color:DE text:"03F (TD)" from:21/12/2004 till:27/12/2004 color:C1 text:"Judy (C1)" from:05/01/2005 till:14/01/2005 color:C3 text:"Kerry (C3)" from:27/01/2005 till:02/02/2005 color:C1 text:"Lola (C1)" from:01/02/2005 till:08/02/2005 color:C5 text:" Meena (C5)" barset:break from:10/02/2005 till:20/02/2005 color:C5 text:" Olaf (C5)" from:10/02/2005 till:17/02/2005 color:C4 text:" Nancy (C4)" from:24/02/2005 till:05/03/2005 color:C5 text:" Percy (C5)" from:26/02/2005 till:02/03/2005 color:DE text:"11F (TD)" from:27/02/2005 till:08/03/2005 color:C1 text:"Rae (C1)" from:27/02/2005 till:04/03/2005 color:DE text:"13F (TD)" from:14/04/2005 till:02/05/2005 color:DE text:"14F (TD)" barset:break from:16/04/2005 till:23/04/2005 color:C1 text:"Sheila (C1)" from:20/04/2005 till:22/04/2005 color:DI text:"16F (TDi)" from:26/04/2005 till:02/05/2005 color:DE text:"17F (TD)" from:29/04/2005 till:02/05/2005 color:DE text:"18F (TD)" bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/10/2004 till:01/11/2004 text:October from:01/11/2004 till:01/12/2004 text:November from:01/12/2004 till:01/01/2005 text:December from:01/01/2005 till:01/02/2005 text:January from:01/02/2005 till:28/02/2005 text:February from:01/03/2005 till:01/04/2005 text:March from:01/04/2005 till:01/05/2005 text:April from:01/05/2005 till:01/06/2005 text:May TextData = pos:(569,23) text:"(For further details, please see" pos:(713,23) 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 ...

The first tropical depression of the season developed on October 28 to the northeast of

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the se ...

in the

. Over the next few days the system moved westwards and moved into the Australian region during October 30. There were no significant tropical disturbances observed during November, before Tropical Depression 02F developed to the north of Vanuatu during December 3. The system subsequently meandered over the ocean between Vanuatu and Fiji, before it was last noted to the southeast of Vanuatu during December 14. While Tropical Depression 02F was active, the third tropical depression of the season, developed to the south of Tuvalu on December 5. The system subsequently moved south-eastwards, before it was last noted during December 10 to the east of Nuku'alofa, Tonga. The fourth tropical disturbance of the season developed during December 21 and subsequently moved south-westwards, before it was named Judy during December 24, as it developed into the first tropical cyclone of the season.

Systems

Tropical Cyclone Judy

On December 21, RSMC Nadi reported that Tropical Disturbance 04F had developed, along an active and slow-moving monsoon trough near French Polynesia. The depression was in an area of high shear, with the deep convection located to the northeast of the center. The low level circulation center at this time was exposed but was developing despite the high shear associated with the system. Early on December 24 deep convection associated with the system moved over the low level circulation center whilst the system was getting better organized. Later that day at 1800 UTC the Depression was upgraded to a category one tropical cyclone and was named Judy whilst located about southeast of Tahiti and moving towards the southwest. During the next few hours under strengthening shear, Judy struggled to maintain itself. However, as it moved further to the south it came under a strengthening steering field which was being enhanced by a trough of low pressure to the west of the steering field which helped to neutralize the effect of the shear over the cyclone. Judy then intensified slightly further and reached its peak intensity of 85 km/h (50 mph), with a peak pressure of 989 hPa late on December 25 whilst turning towards the south towards TCWC Wellington's area of responsibility. Judy degenerated into an extratropical cyclone during December 27, before it was last noted later that day as it merged with an area of low pressure to the south of Tahiti.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Kerry

Tropical Cyclone Kerry developed from Tropical Depression 05F on January 5, northeast of

Port Vila Port Vila (french: Port-Vila), or simply Vila (; french: Vila; bi, Vila ), is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. It is located on the island of Efate. Its population in the last census (2009) was 44,040, an increase of 35% on the p ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

. Kerry moved to the southwest with winds as it moved over Vanuatu. Once past the island, Kerry moved on a west-southwest course and it began to intensify after turning to the west. The storm reached a peak intensity of before turning towards the south-southeast. The storm began to weaken under vertical shear and was downgraded to a depression on January 13.

Tropical Cyclone Lola

Tropical Storm Lola developed from Tropical Depression 06F on January 31, west-southwest of

Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the nation ...

. Lola reached a peak intensity of , but was downgraded to a depression on February 2.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Meena

On February 1, the RSMC Nadi began monitoring a tropical disturbance, which they designated as 07F, to the west of the

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, Raka ...

. The next day, a small area of deep

convection Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the c ...

developed.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Olaf

The most intense system of the season, Tropical Cyclone Olaf developed rapidly like Nancy. By February 16, Olaf had attained maximum sustained winds of and was thrashing American Samoa. However bad the damage was, it could have been worse as Olaf veered east, its eyewall missing the islands.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Nancy

Cyclone Nancy formed on February 10 as Tropical Disturbance 09F, over the next couple of days. The disturbance gradually developed and was designated as Cyclone Nancy during February 12 due to its outflow improving and a small area of deep

, developing over the center of circulation, whilst it was located about east-northeast of

Pago Pago, American Samoa Pago Pago ( ; Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the territorial capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, which is American Samoa's main island. ...

. During that day Nancy started to rapidly intensify becoming a

Severe Tropical Cyclone 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 scales of classifications are used officially by the mete ...

late on February 13 as a small, irregularly shaped,

eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

had begun to develop. The next day both RSMC Nadi, and the JTWC reported that Cyclone Nancy had attained its peak intensity of 175 km/h (110 mph 10-minute winds) and 230 km/h (145 mph 1-minute winds). Increasing wind shear then caused Nancy to weaken. Early on February 15, the storm passed directly over Manuae. Continued weakening took place as a trough of low pressure approached from the southwest. By February 16, Nancy weakened below hurricane intensity and turned to the southwest as it began to undergo a

Fujiwhara interaction The Fujiwhara effect, sometimes referred to as the Fujiwara effect, Fujiw(h)ara interaction or binary interaction, is a phenomenon that occurs when two nearby cyclonic vortices move around each other and close the distance between the circulatio ...

with Cyclone Olaf, strong shear associated with the outflow of Cyclone Olaf caused all convection associated with Nancy to be displaced to the southwest on February 16. Early on February 17, Nancy transitioned into an extratropical cyclone as it entered the area of responsibility of TCWC Wellington. Shortly afterwards, the low was absorbed into the larger circulation of Olaf however it was monitored by TCWC Wellington as a separate system until 1200 UTC on February 18. Already impacted by Cyclone Meena a week earlier, the Cook Islands sustained significant damage from Cyclone Nancy. Several homes were damaged and destroyed throughout the islands. Downed trees and power lines blocked roads and cut power and minor flooding was reported along coastal areas.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Percy

Percy quickly formed from an area of low pressure on February 24 and reached Category 1 status north of

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internation ...

. The cyclone then moved eastward, peaking at Category 5 status before turning southward. Percy then passed through the southwestern

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , langu ...

causing severe damage before dissipating.

Tropical Cyclone Rae

Tropical Depression 13F

Late on February 27, RSMC Nadi reported that a suspect tropical disturbance was developing near to the north of Rennel Island, in the

. Over the next couple of days the system gradually developed and before it was declared as a tropical disturbance early on March 1. At this time convection detached from the disturbance's low level circulation center, whilst vertical wind shear around the system remained weak. Early the next day, the Disturbance was then relocated to the northwest of

Viti Levu Viti Levu (pronounced ) is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji. It is the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population. Geology Fiji lies in a tectonically complex area between the Australia ...

in Fiji, before it was designated as Tropical Depression 13F later that day. The Depression remained weak reaching an estimated central pressure of 1001 hPa (mbar) early on March 3, however there were no winds reported by RSMC Nadi whilst they were monitoring it. RSMC Nadi then issued their last advisory on 13F early on March 4 after no persistent convection reported around the system since the depression reached its peak pressure.

Tropical Depression 14F

Tropical Cyclone Sheila

Other systems

Tropical Depression 01F developed on October 28, within the monsoon trough about to the northeast of

. Over the next couple of days the system moved westwards and moved into the Australian region, during October 30, where it was monitored for a few days by TCWC Brisbane. The second tropical depression of the season developed on December 3, about to the north of Port Villa, Vanuatu. Over the next week the poorly organised system meandered over the ocean between Vanuatu and Fiji, before it started to organise during December 12, with RSMC Nadi issuing gale warnings on the system. The system subsequently moved southwards between Vanuatu and Fiji, before it was last noted during December 14, while it was located to the southeast of Port Villa. While Tropical Depression 02F was active, the third tropical depression of the season, developed to the south of

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northea ...

on December 5. The system subsequently moved south-eastwards, before it was last noted during December 10 to the east of Nuku'alofa,

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. During February 26, RSMC Nadi reported that Tropical Depression 11F had formed, within the

Tuamotu Archipelago The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extendin ...

of islands in

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = "Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of French ...

. During the next day the system moved eastwards before it was last noted during the next day as it degenerated into a tropical disturbance. During April 20 Tropical Disturbance 16F developed within a monsoon trough, about to the southeast of Apia on the Samoan island: Upolu. During April 21, the disturbance moved towards the southwest and affected Niue while starting to rapidly weaken, before it was last noted during April 22 wrapping into Cyclone Sheila's circulation. Tropical Depression 17F then developed on April 26 while located about to the northeast of Pago-Pago in American Samoa. During April 29, Tropical Depression 18F developed within a monsoon trough about , to the northeast of

Suva, Fiji Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Div ...

. Over the next 24 hours the system moved towards the southeast while deep convection surrounding the system failed to become organized and started to weaken. The depression was last noted during the next day, as it dissipated about , to the northeast of Suva.

Season effects

This table lists all the storms that developed in the South Pacific to the east of longitude 160°E during the 2004–05 season. It includes their intensity on the Australian Tropical cyclone intensity scale, duration, name, landfalls, deaths, and damages. All data is taken from RSMC Nadi and/or TCWC Wellington, and all of the damage figures are in 2005 USD. , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Cook Islands , , , , None , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Samoan Islands, Cook Islands , , , , None , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Samoan Islands, Cook Islands , , , , None , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Tokelau, Samoan Islands, Cook Islands , , , , None , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , French Polynesia , , None , , None , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , No areas affected , , None , , None , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Niue , , , , , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , -

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:2004-05 South Pacific Cyclone Season South Pacific cyclone seasons Articles which contain graphical timelines 2004 SPac 2005 SPac