ESAU

History

Severe Tropical Cyclone Esau began as a shallow tropical depression that formed within the monsoon trough on 24 February 1992, roughly 370 km north-east of Port Vila, Vanuatu. Steered south-west by a northerly flow, the developing low crossed Pentecost Island on 25 February, passed close to Malakula, then turned north and completed a small clockwise loop over Espiritu Santo. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center began advisories on 26 February, designating it Tropical Cyclone 21P, and later that day the Fiji Meteorological Service upgraded the system to a Category 1 cyclone and named it Esau.

Esau tracked south-west away from Vanuatu before accelerating westwards along the northern flank of a strong subtropical ridge, strengthening steadily as vertical wind shear eased. By 28 February it had reached Category 3 severe tropical cyclone status about 550 km west of Espiritu Santo. As the ridge weakened and left the system in weak steering flow, Esau began a second clockwise loop and reached its peak intensity of Category 4, with 10-minute sustained winds of 195 km/h; the JTWC assessed 1-minute winds of 240 km/h. The cyclone briefly entered the Australian region, bringing gales to the Solomon Islands around 29 February, then curved back south-east into the South Pacific, approaching within 450 km of southern Vanuatu before turning south toward New Caledonia. Esau made landfall near Ponerihouen on 4 March as a Category 3 severe cyclone, becoming the strongest cyclone on record to strike the territory. It weakened over the mountainous island and became extratropical on 5 March; the remnants struck New Zealand's North Island near Taranaki and Hawke's Bay on 8 March, producing hail and a tornado.

Damage was generally modest. On Rennell and Bellona in the Solomons, gales destroyed several houses and flooded taro gardens and food crops, with relief needed for around 5,000 people. New Caledonia recorded gusts to 158 km/h at Népoui and Cap N'Dua and 528 mm of rain at Kopéto, with widespread flooding, blocked roads and power and communications failures. One woman drowned crossing a river near Hienghène. The name Esau was subsequently retired.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia