1960s South Pacific cyclone seasons explained

Basin:	SPac
Year:	1960s
First Storm Formed:	December 28, 1959
Last Storm Dissipated:	May 4, 1969
Total Disturbances:	120
Fatalities:	500+
Five Seasons:	1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970–71, 1971–72
Australian Season:	1960s Australian region cyclone seasons

The following is a list of all reported tropical cyclones within the South Pacific Ocean to the east of 160°E during the 1960s.

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Systems

1959–60

• December 28, 1959 – January 4, 1960 – Tropical Cyclone Brigette.
• January 2–4, 1960 – A possible tropical cyclone named Delilah existed to the west of Fiji.
• January 15–20, 1960 – Tropical Cyclone Corine.
• January 17–19, 1960 – A tropical cyclone impacted northern and central Tonga.^[1]
• March 17–23, 1960 – Tropical Cyclone Flora.
• April 2–10, 1960 – Tropical Cyclone Gina.
• April 10, 1960 – An unnamed tropical cyclone was located north of New Zealand when it was captured by the TIROS-1 weather satellite, making it the first tropical cyclone with a photograph taken from a satellite.^[2]

1960–61

• January 9–14, 1961 – Tropical Cyclone Barberine existed near New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands, where it had a minor impact on the islands.^{[3] [4]}
• February 3–11, 1961 – Tropical Cyclone Catherine.^[3]
• March 3–12, 1961 – A possible tropical cyclone impacted Tuvalu, Samoa and the Northern Cook Islands.^[3]
• March 12–19, 1961 – A tropical cyclone impacted the Northern Cook Islands and French Polynesia's Society Islands. It is thought that this system might have been two separate tropical cyclones rather than one.^[3]
• March 14–19, 1961 – A tropical cyclone impacted central and southern Tonga.^[1]
• March 15–21, 1961 – Tropical Cyclone Isis.^[3]

1961–62

• November 29 – December 8, 1961 – Tropical Cyclone Alizor developed about 435round=5NaNround=5 to the southwest of Honiara in the Solomon Islands.^{[5] [6]} Over the next few days, the system moved south-eastwards and passed around 250round=5NaNround=5 to the west of Koumac in northern New Caledonia during December 2.^{[5] [6]} The system subsequently continued to move south-eastwards and impacted Norfolk Island, before it was last noted during December 10, while located to the northwest of New Zealand.^{[6] [7]} Alizor caused heavy rain, minor damage, river flooding and disrupted telephone communications in New Caledonia.^{[3] [5] [6]}
• February 8–13, 1962 – A tropical depression moved from Vanuatu to the south of Fiji and possibly became a tropical cyclone.^{[3] [7]}
• February 13–17, 1962 – During February 13, a tropical cyclone formed to the northwest of Palmerston Island and moved eastwards towards Aitutaki, where gale-force winds were reported.^{[3] [8]} The system subsequently moved southwards through the eastern Cook Islands, before it was last noted during February 17.^[8] Within the Cook Islands, the system possibly produced hurricane-force winds over the islands, where considerable damage to houses and citrus plantations was reported on Mauke and Atiu.^[8]
• February 14–17, 1962 – A tropical cyclone existed to the east of Vanuatu and moved south-eastwards without making landfall.^[3]
• February 18–19, 1962 – A tropical cyclone was located to the southwest of Palmerston Island in the Cook Islands.^[3]
• February 27 – March 2, 1962 – A tropical cyclone existed in between Vanuatu and New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands.^[9] Over the next few days, the system moved south-eastwards and passed near Fiji's Vanua Levu and northern Lau Islands, causing minor damage to houses and coconut trees.^[3] After impacting Fiji, the system appeared to perform a loop, before it moved eastwards between the Tongan islands of Tongatapu and Haʻapai.^[9] After moving south of Niue, the system turned south-eastwards, before it was last noted during December 1.^[3]
• December 5–8, 1964 – A small tropical cyclone developed to the northwest of Rotuma, before hurricane-force winds were reported on the island during December 5, as it passed just to the east of the Fijian dependency.^[3] Over the next few days, the system moved south-westwards and impacted the Lau Islands, before it dissipated near Tonga during December 8.^[3]
• December 18–22, 1964 – A tropical cyclone impacted Fiji.^[3]
• January 14–16, 1965 – A possible tropical cyclone moved from Vanuatu to the south of Fiji.^[3]
• February 4–12, 1965 – A tropical cyclone impacted Wallis and Futuna and Fiji.^[3]
• February 18–19, 1965 – A possible tropical cyclone named Lucile impacted Vanuatu.^[3]
• February 24–28, 1965 – A possible tropical cyclone named Olga existed to the east of New Caledonia.^[3]

1965–66

• January 26 – February 6, 1966 – A tropical cyclone developed to the north of Fiji and later impacted Wallis and Futuna, Samoa and the Southern Cook Islands.^{[3] [9]}
• January 29–31, 1966 – A tropical cyclone caused gale-force winds on Palmerston Island and Aitutaki, as it moved through the Southern Cook Islands.^[3] The storm caused significant damage in Samoa, American Samoa, Wallis et Futuna, and Tokelau, including uprooting all of Samoa's banana trees, three-quarters of its breadfruit trees, and a fifth of its coconut trees.^[11]
• February 13, 1966 – A possible tropical cyclone was located to the east of Tokelau.^[3]
• February 23 – March 2, 1966 – Tropical Cyclone Connie was located within the north-eastern Coral Sea and moved westwards, before it recurved south-eastwards to pass to the west of New Caledonia.^[3]
• March 12–16, 1966 – A tropical cyclone moved southeastwards between Vanuatu and New Caledonia.^[3]
• April 26–28, 1966 – A possible tropical cyclone existed to the west of French Polynesia's Society Islands and south of the Austral Islands.^[3]

1966–67

• November 13–19, 1966 – Tropical Cyclone Angela impacted the Solomon Islands.^[3]
• December 4–9, 1966 – A tropical cyclone moved south-eastwards over Viti Levu and the Lau Islands, where it caused some damage to banana trees and bures.
• January 23–31, 1967 – Tropical Cyclone Dinah developed near the Solomon Islands, before it moved south-westwards into the Australian region.^[3]
• February 1–8, 1967 – Tropical Cyclone Agnes developed to the east of northern Vanuatu and moved southeastwards between the island nation and New Caledonia.^[3]
• February 18–22, 1967 – Tropical Cyclone Barbara.^[3]
• February 23–27, 1967 – A possible tropical cyclone moved from Vanuatu to the south of Fiji.^[3]
• March 16–17, 1967 – Tropical Cyclone Glenda.^[3]
• April 7–14, 1967 – During April 7, a tropical cyclone developed to the northeast of Rotuma and moved southwards where it made landfall on Vanua Levu during April 9.^[9] Over the next couple of days, the system moved south-southeastwards to the east of Suva, near the island of Matuku and to the west of Ono-I-Lau. Severe damage was reported.^[9]

1967–68

• November 10–16, 1967 – Tropical Cyclone Annie.^[12]
• December 12–20, 1967 – A tropical cyclone impacted Tokelau and the Cook Islands.^[3]
• January 14–24, 1968 – Tropical Cyclone Brenda.^[3]
• January 27–30, 1968 – A possible tropical cyclone developed within the Coral Sea and moved eastwards through Vanuatu.^[3]
• February 7–13, 1968 – A tropical cyclone impacted Samoa and Niue.^[3]
• February 20–24, 1968 – A tropical cyclone developed to the southeast of New Caledonia and moved southwards towards Norfolk Island.^[3]
• March 1–5, 1968 – Tropical Cyclone Florence.^[3]
• March 20–25, 1968 – A tropical cyclone existed to the south of Fiji.^[3]
• April 5–10, 1968 – Tropical Cyclone Giselle.^[3]

1968–69

• November 29–30, 1968 – A possible tropical cyclone between Niue and the Southern Cook Islands.^[3]
• December 11–15, 1968 – Tropical Cyclone Becky.^[3]
• January 11–17, 1969 – A tropical cyclone impacted Wallis and Futuna before impacting Tonga.^[3]
• January 28 – February 5, 1969 – Tropical Cyclone Colleen.^[3]
• February 12–16, 1969 – Tropical Cyclone Hortense.^[3]
• February 17–21, 1969 – Tropical Cyclone Irene.^[3]
• February 25–28, 1969 – A tropical cyclone developed to the north of Fiji and moved south-eastwards towards Tonga.^[9]
• February 26 – March 2, 1969 – A possible tropical cyclone near the Solomon Islands to the east of Vanuatu.^[3]
• April 26 – May 4, 1969 – Tropical Cyclone Esther.^[3]

1969–70

See main article: 1969–70 South Pacific cyclone season.

• January 2–19, 1970 – Severe Tropical Cyclone Ada's precursor tropical depression performed a large clockwise loop, near the Solomon Islands before it ultimately made landfall on Queensland, Australia.^[3]
• January 9, 1970 – An area of low pressure with three weak centres, existed between Fiji, Rotuma and Samoa. Two of these centres developed further and brought gale-force winds to Tokelau, Samoa and Tuvalu.^[3]
• January 11–12, 1970 – A tropical depression brought gale-force winds to both Fiji and Tonga.^{[3] [13]}
• February 10–19, 1970 – Tropical Cyclone Dawn.^[3]
• February 11–23, 1970 – Tropical Cyclone Dolly.^[3]
• February 28 – March 2, 1970 – Tropical Cyclone Emma.^[3]
• April 2–4, 1970 – Tropical Cyclone Fanny impacted Vanuatu and New Caledonia.^[3]
• April 8–10, 1970 – Tropical Cyclone Gillian.^[3]
• April 12–18, 1970 – Tropical Cyclone Helen.^[3]
• April 13–19, 1970 – Tropical Cyclone Isa.^[3]

See also

• South Pacific tropical cyclone
• Atlantic hurricane seasons: 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969
• Eastern Pacific hurricane seasons: 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969
• Western Pacific typhoon seasons: 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969
• North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons: 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969

External links

• Southwest Pacific Enhanced Archive for Tropical Cyclones (SPEArTC)

Notes and References

1. List of tropical cyclones that has affected at least a part of Tonga from 1960 to present. Tonga Meteorological Service. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20081119141522/http://www.met.gov.to/index_files/tc_history.pdf. November 19, 2008.
2. Web site: Digital Library Search . . April 10, 1960 . July 17, 2024 . TIROS-1.
3. Book: [{{Google Books URL|id=FThPAAAAQBAJ}} Furious Winds and Parched Islands: Tropical Cyclones (1558–1970) and Droughts (1722–1987) in the Pacific ]. d'Aubert, AnaMaria . Nunn, Patrick D . 978-1-4691-7008-4 . Database 1: Tropical Cyclones (1558–1970). March 2012 . 363–409.
4. Web site: Tropical Cyclone Impacts along the Australian East Coast from November to April 1858 to 2000 . Australian Severe Weather.
5. Les Cyclone: Dans le Pacifique Sud-Ouest. 1962. 35. March 28, 2020. 49–50. MetMar.
6. 24. Tropical cyclones in the northeastern Australian region 1961–62 season. Australian Meteorological Magazine. 1962. live . April 24, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20190804155749/http://www.bom.gov.au/jshess/docs/1962/necyclone.pdf. August 4, 2019. 50–75.
7. Météorologie Tropicale: Quelques Aspects Des Dépressions et Cyclones Tropicauxdans le Pacifique Sud-Ouest. 1962. 40. March 28, 2020. 70. MetMar.
8. Web site: Tropical Storms and Hurricanes in the Southwest Pacific: November 1939 to May 1969 . Kerr, Ian S . March 1, 1976 . live . August 11, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140413142735/http://docs.niwa.co.nz/library/public/nzmsmp148.pdf . April 13, 2014.
9. Information Sheet No. 9: Tropical Cyclones in Fiji: 1959/60 to 1968/69. March 17, 1977. Fiji Meteorological Service. Gabites, John Fletcher.
10. • November 10–14, 1962 – A tropical cyclone existed near New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands and moved south-eastwards towards the Kermadic Islands.
    • December 22–25, 1962 – A tropical cyclone existed to the south of Samoa and moved south-eastwards to the south of the Cook Islands where it caused gale-force winds on Palmerston Island.
    • January 15–18, 1963 – A tropical cyclone moved through the islands of Vanuatu where it caused no significant damage.
    • January 18–21, 1963 – A possible tropical cyclone moved from Vanuatu to the south of Fiji.
    • January 29 – February 2, 1963 – A possible tropical cyclone existed in the Coral Sea to the north of New Caledonia.
    • February 16–20, 1963 – A tropical cyclone moved south-westwards within the Coral Sea, however, it did not make landfall on any island nation.
    • March 1–6, 1963 – A tropical cyclone existed within the Coral Sea and moved south-eastwards between Vanuatu and New Caledonia.
    • March 7–18, 1963 – A tropical cyclone impacted Tonga, Niue and the Southern Cook Islands.
    • April 1–6, 1963 – A tropical cyclone existed to the southeast of New Caledonia.
    • April 20–26, 1963 – A tropical cyclone existed within the Coral Sea to the southeast of New Guinea.

    1963–64

    • November 15–25, 1963 – A tropical cyclone impacted Vanuatu.
    • December 15–23, 1963 – A tropical cyclone was observed over the north-eastern Coral Sea, as it moved through the Santa Cruz Islands before it moved southeastwards to the west of Fiji.
    • January 27 – February 2, 1964 – Tropical Cyclone Bertha.
    • February 19–25, 1964 – Tropical Cyclone Edith.
    • March 18–25, 1964 – One or two tropical cyclones existed to the east of Vanuatu and moved south-eastwards towards southern Fiji.
    • March 20, 1964 – A possible tropical cyclone possibly moved south-eastwards from New Caledonia to the south of Fiji.
    • March 28 – April 7, 1964 – Tropical Cyclone Henrietta.
    • June 13, 1964 – A tropical cyclone impacted the Samoan Islands, where 250 people were killed.

    1964–65

    • November 19 – December 1, 1964 – During November 19, a tropical cyclone was identified near Rotuma, before a plane from the Royal New Zealand Air Force provided information on the system's position during the next day.^[9]
11. News: Four Territories Devastated in Worst South Seas Hurricane for 75 Years . Pacific Islands Monthly . March 1966 . 37 . 3 . 45 . 2024-05-09 . Trove.
12. Web site: Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary December 2001. 2002-04-22. Gary Padgett. 2007-10-21.
13. Information Sheet No. 59: Tropical Cyclones affecting Fiji: November 1969 to April 1980. October 20, 1980. Fiji Meteorological Service. Waygood, J L M.