Cyclone Prema

Severe Tropical Cyclone Prema
Category 4 severe tropical cyclone (Aus scale)
Category 4 (Saffir–Simpson scale)

Satellite image of Cyclone Prema
Formed March 26, 1993
Dissipated April 6, 1993
Highest winds 10-minute sustained: 185 km/h (115 mph)
1-minute sustained: 230 km/h (145 mph)
Lowest pressure 940 hPa (mbar); 27.76 inHg
Fatalities 3
Damage $5 million (1993 USD)
Areas affected Vanuatu, New Caledonia
Part of the 1992–93 South Pacific cyclone season

Severe Tropical Cyclone Prema was among the worst tropical cyclones to hit Vanuatu since 1987's Cyclone Uma.[1] The twenty-third storm of the season, Prema formed early on March 26, 1993 as a weak tropical depression.[2]

Meteorological history

Map plotting the track and intensity of the storm according to the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale

During March 25, the Fiji Meteorological Service reported that a tropical depression, had developed within an otherwise inactive monsoon trough, about 200 km (125 mi) to the west of the Fijian dependency of Rotuma.[3][4] During the next day the system initially moved north-westwards, before it turned and moved south-westwards as it organised and developed further.[3]

[5] During that day the depression moved towards the northwest, before it turned and started to move towards the southwest during March 26 as it gradually developed further. During March 27, both TCWC Nadi and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported that the depression had developed into a tropical cyclone with Nadi naming it as Prema.[6]

Preparations and impact

Severe Tropical Cyclone Prema was the first named tropical cyclone to affect Vanuatu, after six systems had affected the archipelago during the previous season. Prema affected the island nation between March 29 – 30, where it caused extensive damage parts of Shefa Province, including on Epi, Efate and the Shepherd Islands.

Due to the impact of this system, the name Prema was subsequently retired, by the World Meteorological Organization's RA V Tropical Cyclone Committee.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The South Pacific Sea Level and Climate Change Newsletter" (PDF). South Pacific Regional Environment Programme. September 1997. p. 9. Retrieved 2009-09-13. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  2. ↑ "Vanuatu — UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FRAMEWORK (2003–2007)" (PDF). United Nations. March 2002. Retrieved 2009-09-13. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  3. 1 2 Tropical Cyclone Prema, March 24 – April 1, 1993 (Report). Fiji Meteorological Service. May 20, 1996. Archived from the original on December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  4. ↑ Darwin Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (1993). "March 1993" (PDF). Darwin Tropical Diagnostic Statement. Australian Bureau of Meteorology. 12 (3): 2. ISSN 1321-4233. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  5. ↑ National Tidal Facility Australia (2002). "Pacific Country Report Sea Level & Climate: Their Present State Vanuatu" (PDF). Flinders University. p. 15. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  6. ↑ MetService (May 22, 2009). "TCWC Wellington Best Track Data 1967–2006". International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship.
  7. ↑ RA V Tropical Cyclone Committee (May 5, 2015). Tropical Cyclone Operational Plan for the South-East Indian Ocean and the Southern Pacific Ocean 2014 (PDF) (Report). World Meteorological Organization. pp. 2B–1 – 2B–4 (23–26). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
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