1969–70 South Pacific cyclone season

The 1969–70 South Pacific cyclone season was a very inactive season, featuring only seven disturbances, five tropical cyclones, and two severe tropical cyclones. The season featured only one landfalling storm, Cyclone Dawn. Dawn formed very late, on February 10, and the last storm, Tropical Depression Isa, dissipated early, on April 19.

1969–70 South Pacific cyclone season
Season summary map
Seasonal boundaries
First system formedFebruary 10, 1970
Last system dissipatedApril 19, 1970
Strongest storm
NameDolly & Emma
 • Maximum winds130 km/h (80 mph)
(10-minute sustained)
 • Lowest pressure965 hPa (mbar)
Seasonal statistics
Total disturbances7
Tropical cyclones5
Severe tropical cyclones2
Total fatalities6
Total damage$5 million (1970 USD)
Related articles

Seasonal summary

Systems

Tropical Cyclone Dawn
Category 2 tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
DurationFebruary 16 – February 19
Peak intensity100 km/h (65 mph) (10-min)  980 hPa (mbar)

Severe Tropical Cyclone Dolly
Category 3 severe tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Category 1 tropical cyclone (SSHWS)
 
DurationFebruary 11 – February 25
Peak intensity130 km/h (80 mph) (10-min)  965 hPa (mbar)

Severe Tropical Cyclone Emma
Category 3 severe tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Category 1 tropical cyclone (SSHWS)
 
DurationFebruary 27 – March 6
Peak intensity130 km/h (80 mph) (10-min)  965 hPa (mbar)

Tropical Cyclone Gillian
Category 1 tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
DurationApril 7 – April 11
Peak intensity85 km/h (55 mph) (10-min)  980 hPa (mbar)

Tropical Cyclone Helen
Category 1 tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
DurationApril 13 – April 17
Peak intensity75 km/h (45 mph) (10-min)  990 hPa (mbar)

On April 17, 1970, Apollo 13 was making its final descent over the splashdown zone when they spotted Cyclone Helen as they were re-entering the earth's atmosphere. Mission control had been tracking the storm to make sure it did not interfere with the mission's re-entry.

Tropical Cyclone Isa
Category 1 tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Tropical depression (SSHWS)
 
DurationApril 14 – April 19
Peak intensity75 km/h (45 mph) (10-min)  990 hPa (mbar)

Other systems

During January 5, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology first noted the existence of a weak tropical depression over the eastern Coral Sea, however, it has since been determined that the depression developed during January 2 near 15.8°S 165.1°E / -15.8; 165.1.[1][2] The system was subsequently tracked by infrequent satelitte imagery, which revealed that it slowly completed a cyclonic loop near the Solomon Islands before curving back toward the southwest.[1] The system entered the Australian region during 15 January, where it subsequently became Severe Tropical Cyclone Ada before making landfall on Queensland during 17 January.[1]

Seasonal effects
Name Dates active Peak classification Sustained
wind speeds		 Pressure Areas affected Damage
(USD)		 Deaths Refs
PriscillaDecember 15 – 19Category 1 tropical cyclone75 km/h (45 mph)990 hPa (29.23 inHg)FijiMinor[3]
AdaJanuary 2 – 15Tropical depression55 km/h (35 mph)997 hPa (29.44 inHg)Vanuatu, Solomon IslandsNoneNone
DawnFebruary 10 – 19Category 1 tropical cyclone65 km/h (40 mph)990 hPa (29.23 inHg)New Caledonia and Northern Queensland$5 Million6
DollyFebruary 11 – 25, 1970Category 3 Severe Tropical Cyclone130 km/h (80 mph)965 hPa (28.50 inHg)[4]
EmmaMarch 2 – 4, 1970Category 3 Severe Tropical Cyclone130 km/h (80 mph)965 hPa (28.50 inHg)[5]
Season aggregates
7 systemsOctober 29 – March 23
gollark: Neat.
gollark: You know what's MORE based? Multi-gigabyte-per-second (de)compression.
gollark: But zstandard is good regardless of Facebookness?
gollark: It isn't HelloBoi, as they didn't submit an entry. Keep up.
gollark: Resolve this.

References
  1. Gibbs, W. J. (June 1970). "Report by Director of Meteorology on Cyclone 'Ada'" (PDF). Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  2. "The Australian Tropical Cyclone Database" (CSV). Australian Bureau of Meteorology. A guide on how to read the database is available here.
  3. Waygood, J.L.M. (October 20, 1980). Tropical Cyclones affecting Fiji: November 1969 to April 1980 (Information Sheet No. 59). Fiji Meteorological Service.
  4. "1970 Tropical Cyclone Dolly (1970043S15163)". International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  5. "1970 Tropical Cyclone Emma (1970058S15200)". International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
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