Tropical Cyclone Cliff was first noted as a weak tropical disturbance on April 1, 2007, within a trough of low pressure about 210 km (130 mi) to the southwest of Rotuma. Over the next couple of days the system drifted towards the southeast and Fiji, in an area of strong wind shear. During April 3, the system slightly accelerated, as it moved towards the south-southeast before the westerly wind shear around the system relaxed sufficiently to allow the depression to consolidate while it was located near Vanua Levu.
Early on April 4, the depression moved around the northeastern tip of Vanua Levu as bands of atmospheric convection rapidly developed and wrapped into the low level circulation center.[1] At 0300 UTC while the system was located about 95 km (60 mi) to the south-southeast of Labasa, RSMC Nadi named the depression, Cliff after the system had developed into a category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale.[1] This was despite gale force winds not being present near the systems center, as required by the tropical cyclone operational plan for the region.[1][2] After Cliff had been named gale-force winds rapidly developed near the center, as it continued to intensify and accelerate towards the south-southeast through the Lau group of islands.[1] At around 0900 UTC on April 4, the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) initiated advisories on the system and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 23P as it became a tropical storm.[3] Over the next 24 hours Cliff continued to intensify, before the JTWC and RSMC Nadi reported during the next day, that Cliff had reached its peak intensity with sustained wind-speeds of 100 km/h (65 mph).[1][4] After peaking in intensity, the system subsequently accelerated further towards the southeast and into an area of cooler seas and higher wind shear.[5][1] This subsequently caused Cliff to become an extratropical cyclone during February 6, before the system was last noted later that day as it merged with a mid-latitude frontal boundary.[5][1]
Cyclone Cliff was responsible for one death. In the wake of the storm, an outbreak of typhoid and leptospirosis infected 99 people and killed three across Fiji.[6]
On April 1, 2007, the Fiji Meteorological Service's Regional Specialized Meteorological Center in Nadi, Fiji (RSMC Nadi) reported that a weak tropical disturbance had developed, along a slow moving trough of low pressure about 210 km (130 mi) to the southwest of Rotuma.[1][7] Over the next couple of days the system drifted towards the southeast and Fiji, in an area of strong westerly wind shear to the south of a ridge axis.[1] Early on April 3, RSMC Nadi initiated advisories on the system and designated it as Tropical Depression 14F, while it was located about 175 km (110 mi) to the north of Labasa, on Vanua Levu.[1][5] During that day the system slightly accelerated, as it moved towards the south-southeast.[1] Later that day RSMC Nadi reported that the system's low-level circulation was exposed to the northwest of the deep convection, which was moving over northeastern Vanua Levu, Cikobia and other smaller islands.[1] The westerly wind shear around the system subsequently relaxed sufficiently, which allowed the depression to consolidate and the low-level circulation center to move closer to the area of deep convection.[1]
Early on April 4, the depression moved around the northeastern tip of Vanua Levu as bands of atmospheric convection rapidly developed and wrapped into the low-level circulation center.[1] At 0300 UTC while the system was located about 95 km (60 mi) to the south-southeast of Labasa, RSMC Nadi named the depression, Cliff after the system had developed into a category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale.[1] This was despite gale-force winds not being present near the system's center, as required by the tropical cyclone operational plan for the region.[1][2] After Cliff had been named gale-force winds rapidly developed near the center, as it continued to intensify and accelerate towards the south-southeast through the Lau group of islands.[1] At around 0900 UTC on April 4, the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) initiated advisories on the system and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 23P as it became a tropical storm.[3] Over the next 24 hours Cliff continued to intensify, before the JTWC and RSMC Nadi reported during the next day that Cliff had reached its peak intensity with sustained wind-speeds of 100 km/h (65 mph).[1][4] After peaking in intensity, the system subsequently accelerated further towards the southeast and into an area of cooler seas and higher wind shear.[1][5] This subsequently caused Cliff to become an extratropical cyclone during February 6, before the system was last noted later that day as it merged with a mid-latitude frontal boundary.[1][5]
Cyclone Cliff's main impact on Fiji was to bring further flooding to the northern parts of Fiji which had already been flooded three times during the cyclone season.[9] Cyclone Cliff was also responsible for a landslide which crashed into a Primary School near Udu Point in the eastern part of Vanua Levu.[10] However the 30 Students inside the school at the time all escaped any serious injuries as they fled to safety.[10]
Cyclone Cliff was also responsible for flooded roads, minor damage to buildings as well as cut water supplies in eastern parts of Vanua Levu as well as on Taveuni Island.[9] The people of Taveuni reported the loss of unaccountable acres of crops as the developing cyclone passed close to the island.[9] Extensive damage was also reported in other parts of the Fijian archipelago including damaged crops & Trees as well as roofs being damaged.[10] Cyclone Cliff was also indirectly responsible for one death in Fiji when a woman was swept from a flooded bridge.[10] It is not known how much damage Cyclone Cliff caused.[9]
Tonga
Late on April 4, RSMC Nadi in conjunction with the Tonga Meteorological Service (TMS) issued a tropical cyclone alert for the islands of Tongatapu and Eu'a and a strong wind warning for central Tonga.[8] A gale warning was subsequently issued during the next day for Tongatapu and Eu'a but were cancelled later that day after the system had started moving away from Tonga.[11]
There was no damage reported in Southern Tonga.[9] However the Tonga's Meteorological Service based in Fua’amotu experienced a power failure on April 4 at 2200 UTC.[12] The standby power could not be restored so therefore operations were shifted to the National Emergency Operations Centre in Nukuʻalofa which is the back up for the Met Service.[12] The National Emergency Operations Centre continued to issue cyclone warnings until the threat posed by Cliff had passed. This was despite the met service being able to continue to operate on a mobile generator.[12]
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstRSMC Nadi - Tropical Cyclone Center. Tropical Cyclone Season Summary 2006–07 (Report). Fiji Meteorological Service. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
^ abRA V Tropical Cyclone Committee (2006). (PDF). World Meteorological Organization. p. 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 17, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
^ abJoint Typhoon Warning Center. "Tropical Cyclone 23P (Cliff) Warning 1 April 4, 2007 09z". United States Navy, United States Air Force. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
^ abJoint Typhoon Warning Center. "Tropical Cyclone 23P (Cliff) best track analysis". United States Navy, United States Air Force. from the original on March 4, 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
^ abcdePadgett, Gary (2007). Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary: April 2007 (Report). from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
^"Three dead in Fiji disease outbreak". New Zealand Herald. April 19, 2007.
^Climate Services Division (May 16, 2007). Fiji Islands Climate Summary April 2007 Volume 28 Issue 4 (PDF) (Report). Fiji Meteorological Service. (PDF) from the original on August 13, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
^ ab"Tropical Cyclone Advisories on 04-04-07". RSMC Nadi. Retrieved 2008-10-11.[permanent dead link]
^ abcde"Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary April 2007". Gary Padgett. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
^ abcd"Cyclone Cliff hits Fiji". The Age. 2007-04-05. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
^"Tropical Cyclone Advisories on 05-04-07". RSMC Nadi. Retrieved 2008-10-11.[permanent dead link]
cyclone, cliff, this, article, about, 2007, south, pacific, storm, other, uses, disambiguation, tropical, first, noted, weak, tropical, disturbance, april, 2007, within, trough, pressure, about, southwest, rotuma, over, next, couple, days, system, drifted, tow. This article is about the 2007 South Pacific storm For other uses see Cyclone Cliff disambiguation Tropical Cyclone Cliff was first noted as a weak tropical disturbance on April 1 2007 within a trough of low pressure about 210 km 130 mi to the southwest of Rotuma Over the next couple of days the system drifted towards the southeast and Fiji in an area of strong wind shear During April 3 the system slightly accelerated as it moved towards the south southeast before the westerly wind shear around the system relaxed sufficiently to allow the depression to consolidate while it was located near Vanua Levu Tropical Cyclone CliffCategory 2 tropical cyclone Aus scale Tropical Storm SSHWS Tropical Cyclone Cliff at peakFormedApril 1 2007 2007 04 01 DissipatedApril 6 2007 2007 04 06 Highest winds10 minute sustained 100 km h 65 mph 1 minute sustained 100 km h 65 mph Lowest pressure980 hPa mbar 28 94 inHgFatalities1 direct 3 indirectDamage 4 0 million 2007 USD Areas affectedFiji and TongaPart of the 2006 07 South Pacific cyclone seasonEarly on April 4 the depression moved around the northeastern tip of Vanua Levu as bands of atmospheric convection rapidly developed and wrapped into the low level circulation center 1 At 0300 UTC while the system was located about 95 km 60 mi to the south southeast of Labasa RSMC Nadi named the depression Cliff after the system had developed into a category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale 1 This was despite gale force winds not being present near the systems center as required by the tropical cyclone operational plan for the region 1 2 After Cliff had been named gale force winds rapidly developed near the center as it continued to intensify and accelerate towards the south southeast through the Lau group of islands 1 At around 0900 UTC on April 4 the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center JTWC initiated advisories on the system and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 23P as it became a tropical storm 3 Over the next 24 hours Cliff continued to intensify before the JTWC and RSMC Nadi reported during the next day that Cliff had reached its peak intensity with sustained wind speeds of 100 km h 65 mph 1 4 After peaking in intensity the system subsequently accelerated further towards the southeast and into an area of cooler seas and higher wind shear 5 1 This subsequently caused Cliff to become an extratropical cyclone during February 6 before the system was last noted later that day as it merged with a mid latitude frontal boundary 5 1 Cyclone Cliff was responsible for one death In the wake of the storm an outbreak of typhoid and leptospirosis infected 99 people and killed three across Fiji 6 Contents 1 Meteorological history 2 Preparations and impact 2 1 Fiji 2 2 Tonga 2 3 Retirement 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksMeteorological history Edit Map plotting the storm s track and intensity according to the Saffir Simpson scaleMap keySaffir Simpson scale Tropical depression 38 mph 62 km h Tropical storm 39 73 mph 63 118 km h Category 1 74 95 mph 119 153 km h Category 2 96 110 mph 154 177 km h Category 3 111 129 mph 178 208 km h Category 4 130 156 mph 209 251 km h Category 5 157 mph 252 km h Unknown Storm type Tropical cyclone Subtropical cyclone Extratropical cyclone Remnant low Tropical disturbance Monsoon depression On April 1 2007 the Fiji Meteorological Service s Regional Specialized Meteorological Center in Nadi Fiji RSMC Nadi reported that a weak tropical disturbance had developed along a slow moving trough of low pressure about 210 km 130 mi to the southwest of Rotuma 1 7 Over the next couple of days the system drifted towards the southeast and Fiji in an area of strong westerly wind shear to the south of a ridge axis 1 Early on April 3 RSMC Nadi initiated advisories on the system and designated it as Tropical Depression 14F while it was located about 175 km 110 mi to the north of Labasa on Vanua Levu 1 5 During that day the system slightly accelerated as it moved towards the south southeast 1 Later that day RSMC Nadi reported that the system s low level circulation was exposed to the northwest of the deep convection which was moving over northeastern Vanua Levu Cikobia and other smaller islands 1 The westerly wind shear around the system subsequently relaxed sufficiently which allowed the depression to consolidate and the low level circulation center to move closer to the area of deep convection 1 Early on April 4 the depression moved around the northeastern tip of Vanua Levu as bands of atmospheric convection rapidly developed and wrapped into the low level circulation center 1 At 0300 UTC while the system was located about 95 km 60 mi to the south southeast of Labasa RSMC Nadi named the depression Cliff after the system had developed into a category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale 1 This was despite gale force winds not being present near the system s center as required by the tropical cyclone operational plan for the region 1 2 After Cliff had been named gale force winds rapidly developed near the center as it continued to intensify and accelerate towards the south southeast through the Lau group of islands 1 At around 0900 UTC on April 4 the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center JTWC initiated advisories on the system and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 23P as it became a tropical storm 3 Over the next 24 hours Cliff continued to intensify before the JTWC and RSMC Nadi reported during the next day that Cliff had reached its peak intensity with sustained wind speeds of 100 km h 65 mph 1 4 After peaking in intensity the system subsequently accelerated further towards the southeast and into an area of cooler seas and higher wind shear 1 5 This subsequently caused Cliff to become an extratropical cyclone during February 6 before the system was last noted later that day as it merged with a mid latitude frontal boundary 1 5 Preparations and impact EditFiji Edit Early on April 4 after the system had been named Cliff and started to impact Fiji RSMC Nadi issued gale warnings for Eastern Vanua Levu Taveuni Naitaba Yacata Kanacea Vanua Balavu as well as Vatu Vara 8 Cyclone Cliff s main impact on Fiji was to bring further flooding to the northern parts of Fiji which had already been flooded three times during the cyclone season 9 Cyclone Cliff was also responsible for a landslide which crashed into a Primary School near Udu Point in the eastern part of Vanua Levu 10 However the 30 Students inside the school at the time all escaped any serious injuries as they fled to safety 10 Cyclone Cliff was also responsible for flooded roads minor damage to buildings as well as cut water supplies in eastern parts of Vanua Levu as well as on Taveuni Island 9 The people of Taveuni reported the loss of unaccountable acres of crops as the developing cyclone passed close to the island 9 Extensive damage was also reported in other parts of the Fijian archipelago including damaged crops amp Trees as well as roofs being damaged 10 Cyclone Cliff was also indirectly responsible for one death in Fiji when a woman was swept from a flooded bridge 10 It is not known how much damage Cyclone Cliff caused 9 Tonga Edit Late on April 4 RSMC Nadi in conjunction with the Tonga Meteorological Service TMS issued a tropical cyclone alert for the islands of Tongatapu and Eu a and a strong wind warning for central Tonga 8 A gale warning was subsequently issued during the next day for Tongatapu and Eu a but were cancelled later that day after the system had started moving away from Tonga 11 There was no damage reported in Southern Tonga 9 However the Tonga s Meteorological Service based in Fua amotu experienced a power failure on April 4 at 2200 UTC 12 The standby power could not be restored so therefore operations were shifted to the National Emergency Operations Centre in Nukuʻalofa which is the back up for the Met Service 12 The National Emergency Operations Centre continued to issue cyclone warnings until the threat posed by Cliff had passed This was despite the met service being able to continue to operate on a mobile generator 12 Retirement Edit During 2008 RSMC Nadi put a request forward to the World Meteorological Organizations RA V Tropical Cyclone Committee to have the name Cliff retired This request was accepted with the name being replaced by Chip 13 See also Edit Tropical cyclones portalList of Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons 2006 07 South Pacific cyclone seasonReferences Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t RSMC Nadi Tropical Cyclone Center Tropical Cyclone Season Summary 2006 07 Report Fiji Meteorological Service Retrieved February 18 2014 a b RA V Tropical Cyclone Committee 2006 Tropical Cyclone Operational Plan for the South Pacific and South East Indian Ocean PDF World Meteorological Organization p 21 Archived from the original PDF on July 17 2012 Retrieved February 19 2014 a b Joint Typhoon Warning Center Tropical Cyclone 23P Cliff Warning 1 April 4 2007 09z United States Navy United States Air Force Archived from the original on February 19 2014 Retrieved February 19 2014 a b Joint Typhoon Warning Center Tropical Cyclone 23P Cliff best track analysis United States Navy United States Air Force Archived from the original on March 4 2010 Retrieved February 19 2014 a b c d e Padgett Gary 2007 Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary April 2007 Report Archived from the original on March 15 2012 Retrieved February 19 2014 Three dead in Fiji disease outbreak New Zealand Herald April 19 2007 Climate Services Division May 16 2007 Fiji Islands Climate Summary April 2007 Volume 28 Issue 4 PDF Report Fiji Meteorological Service Archived PDF from the original on August 13 2010 Retrieved February 18 2014 a b Tropical Cyclone Advisories on 04 04 07 RSMC Nadi Retrieved 2008 10 11 permanent dead link a b c d e Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary April 2007 Gary Padgett Retrieved 2008 10 10 a b c d Cyclone Cliff hits Fiji The Age 2007 04 05 Retrieved 2008 10 11 Tropical Cyclone Advisories on 05 04 07 RSMC Nadi Retrieved 2008 10 11 permanent dead link a b c Review of the 2006 07 amp 2007 08 Tropical Cyclone Seasons Tonga World Meteorological Organization 2008 Retrieved 2008 10 06 Tropical Cyclone names WMO Retrieved 2008 09 04 External links EditWorld Meteorological Organization Australian Bureau of Meteorology Fiji Meteorological Service New Zealand MetService Joint Typhoon Warning Center Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cyclone Cliff amp oldid 1094166215, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
