Cyclone Oscar

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Cyclone Oscar west of Fiji on 28 February
Meteorological history
Formed	23 February 1983 (1983-02-23)
Dissipated	6 March 1983 (1983-03-06)
Category 4 severe tropical cyclone
10-minute sustained (FMS)
Highest winds	185 km/h (115 mph)
Category 5 severe tropical cyclone
10-minute sustained (MetService)
Highest winds	205 km/h (125 mph)
Lowest pressure	920 hPa (mbar); 27.17 inHg
Category 3-equivalent tropical cyclone
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/JTWC)
Highest winds	185 km/h (115 mph)
Lowest pressure	943 hPa (mbar); 27.85 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities	9 total
Damage	$13 million (1983 USD)
Areas affected	Fiji
IBTrACS
Part of the 1982–83 South Pacific cyclone season

Severe Tropical Cyclone Oscar was one of the worst tropical cyclones to affect Fiji. The system was first noted as a shallow depression on 23 February, while it was located to the north of Fiji's capital Suva. The system subsequently developed further as it moved westwards and was named Oscar the next day. Oscar subsequently intensified as it moved westwards and gradually developed further on 27 February. The system subsequently turned and started to move south-eastwards towards Fiji.

Map key

Saffir–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, or monsoon depression

On 23 February, the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) started to monitor a shallow depression that had developed about 165 km (105 mi) to the south of Rotuma.[1][2][3] Over the next day, the system gradually developed gale-force winds near its centre as it moved westwards, before the FMS classified it as a tropical cyclone and named it Oscar, at about 16:00 UTC on 24 February (04:00 FST, 25 February).[1] Over the next couple of days, Oscar gradually intensified further as it moved north-westwards away from Fiji, however, the FMS lost confidence in where the system was and its movement.[1][3] During 27 February, the FMS's confidence grew as an eye feature emerged on satellite imagery and Oscar turned and started to move south-eastwards towards Fiji.[1] As a result the FMS issued a tropical cyclone alert for Fiji at 20:00 UTC (08:00 FST, 28 February), which advised that Oscar was located about 300 km (185 mi) to the north of Nadi, had developed hurricane force winds and might impact Fiji within the next 24 hours.[1]

On 28 February, the system continued to intensify as it came within range of Nadi Airport's radar, which showed that Oscar had a concentric eye.[1] Later that day, the FMS reported that Oscar had peaked in intensity with 10-minute sustained wind speeds of 185 km/h (115 mph), which made it a Category 4 severe tropical cyclone on the modern day Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale.[1] After it had peaked in intensity, Oscar accelerated south-eastwards, which caused hurricane-force winds to be experienced in parts of Viti Levu, before it ultimately passed about 30 km (15 mi) to the south of Sigatoka during 1 March.[1][3] At around 22:00 UTC (10:00 FST, 2 March), Oscar passed near or over Kadavu Island, where sustained winds dropped from a peak of 150 km/h (90 mph) to 20 km/h (10 mph). After the system cleared Kandavu, it appeared to rapidly weaken, before its remnants were last noted by the New Zealand Meteorological Service on 6 March, while it was located about 800 km (495 mi) to the south of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands.[1][3]

Data submitted to the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTRACS) by New Zealand's MetService, shows that Oscar peaked with 10-minute sustained wind speeds of 200 km/h (130 mph) and a minimum pressure of 920 hPa (27.17 inHg), which would make it a Category 5 severe tropical cyclone.[3] IBTRACS also shows that the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) who operationaly monitored Oscar as Tropical Cyclone 14P, estimated that the system had peaked with 1-minute sustained windspeeds of 185 km/h (115 mph), which made it a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS).[3] Other notable intensity estimates include Charles J Newmann whose dataset also estimates that Oscar peaked as a Category 3 hurricane on the SSHWS, with 1-minute sustained wind speeds of 195 km/h (120 mph) and a minimum pressure of 943 hPa (27.8 inHg).[3] A study into extreme tropical cyclone activity in the southern Pacific Ocean, published in the Royal Meteorological Society's International Journal of Climatology in 2017 shows that Oscar had peaked with 1-minute sustained wind speeds of 280 km/h (175 mph) which would make it a Category 5 on the SSHWS.[4]

Cyclone Oscar affected Fiji between 28 February and 2 March, and was responsible for nine deaths and US$130 million in damages.[5] As a result of the storm's impact, the name Oscar was retired from the list of tropical cyclone names for the region. Ahead of a tropical cyclone alert for Fiji being issued on 27 February, local radio bulletins made Fijians aware that a tropical cyclone existed several days in advance.[1] Gale, storm and hurricane warnings were subsequently issued for various parts of Fiji including Viti Levu, Kandavu and the Yasawa and Mamanutha island groups.[1][6] Ahead of the system impacting the island nation, the Nadi International Airport was closed, with both internal and external flights cancelled.[1][7] Schools around the nation were also closed with some being used as evacuation centres for the hundreds of Fijians who evacuated.[7] On 28 February, the system started to affect Fiji with strong winds and light rain, before the wind and rain gradually became stronger the following day, with storm and hurricane-force winds recorded over the island nation.[1]

Damage was mostly in the form of severe flooding from storm tides and torrential rains.[8] Hardest hit areas included the Mamanutha Group, western and southwestern Viti Levu, and Yanutha, Vatulele, Kandevu and Mbengga Islands. In some areas storm surges reached nine to twelve feet (2.7 to 3.7 m).[1] However, the highest measured storm surge value was 5.93 m (19.46 ft) at Rarawai Mill.[9] Flooding due to torrential rains was particularly severe in western and southwestern Viti Levu. At Nadi Market flood levels were about 12 ft above the asphalt pavement. In the Singatoka Valley, which supplies most of Fiji's vegetables, most crops were destroyed as flooding reached levels beyond living memory of most people.[1]

At 20:00 UTC on 27 February (08:00 FST, 28 February), the FMS issued a tropical cyclone alert to the media and government authorities, which warned that Oscar could cause gale or storm force winds in Western Viti Levu, Vatulele, Kadavu as well as the Yasawa and Mamanuca islands within the next 24 hours if it continued to move sotuh-eastwards.[1]

On 1 March, after the system had moved through the archipelago, the Fijian government immediately declared a national disaster and asked for assistance from the international community.[10] Efforts to clean up certain towns including Nadi, Lautoka, Sigatoka and Suva started almost immediately after Oscar had moved away, with the Sigatoka Town council initiating a spraying campaign to destroy mosquitoes and counter an outbreak of disease.[10]

• World Meteorological Organization
• Australian Bureau of Meteorology
• Fiji Meteorological Service
• New Zealand MetService
• Joint Typhoon Warning Center