Cyclone Drena
Cyclone Drena was a tropical cyclone that hit New Zealand on the 10th of
January 1997. It was the second cyclone to hit New Zealand within two weeks
- the first being Cyclone Fergus which hit on December 30 (my birthday!).
I had a first hand account of Cyclone Fergus since I was trapped on Mayor
Island, in the worst hit part of the country, during it (see my commentary
on Cyclone Fergus). However during
Cyclone Drena I was at home sitting safely inside, which gave me a chance to
gather a bit of information about it.
Cyclone Drena Timeline
Wednesday January 8 1997
A tropical cyclone appears over New Caledonia on the forecast map in the New
Zealand Herald, however no mention is made of it coming near New Zealand in
the long range forecast. The TVNZ news that night mentions the cyclone over
New Caledonia and indicates that the Met Office was unsure of the path it
would take.
Thursday January 9 1997
A headline at the bottom on the front page of the Herald is Second cyclone
heads to NZ packing rain, 220 km/h winds. The article says: "If it
continues its present course, Northland could begin feeling its effects
tomorrow or Saturday. Weather warnings were expected to be issued for
northern New Zealand today."
The forecast issued by the Met Service at 11:41am is as follows:
MetService forecast to midnight Friday
Issued on 09-Jan-1997 at 11:41 am
A deep depression originating from Cyclone Drena
is expected to move southwards onto the area just
west of Northland and Auckland during Friday. Over
the northern half of the North Island:
rain developing in Northland tonight and spreading
as far south as Taranaki and Hawkes Bay by
Friday midday with heavy falls likely. Torrential rain
is possible in some parts of Northland,
Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty
tomorrow. Easterly winds are likely to rise to
severe gale force for a time in exposed places with
gusts to 130 kilometres per hour. Heavy rain is
also likely to affect Gisborne and Hawkes Bay by
Friday night.
The satellite picture above was taken on Thursday at about
11am shows the cyclone to the
North West of New Zealand.
Friday January 10 1997
The New Zealand Herald's front page headline is Cyclone Drena likely to
punish unwary. In the article, people in the path of the cyclone are
warned against complacency after Cyclone Fergus failed to live up to
expectations. It reports that Aucklanders could wake up to 21 hours of rain
from 6 am and winds gusting up to 130 km/h.
During the day it became clear that the predicted torrential rain wasn't
going to eventuate, although the cyclone did bring strong winds to many
places. The winds were strong enough to uproot trees and lift up roofs in
many places.
This satellite picture (taken at 10pm on Friday) shows the centre of the
cyclone lying off the West Coast of Northland.
Saturday January 11 1997
The New Zealand Herald's morning headline reports Drena lashes north.
Another article on the cyclone tells how some campers are choosing to stay put
during the cyclone, while a third article reports on the loss of earnings of
motor camps in Northland and Coromandel, who question the accuracy of the
weather forecasting.
During the day though, the Cyclone wreaked havoc on the Coromandel. A man
died after he was electrocuted by felled power lines. A state of emergency
was declared on the peninsula where the high seas flooded homes and washed
some areas of road away on state highway 25, north of Thames. About 30
homes were evacuated becuase of the flooding, caused by the high seas
washing over sea walls.
Sunday January 12 1997
The Sunday Star Times headline: Cyclone chaos, Sting in Drena's tail
lashes Coromandel, which reports on the devestation the cyclone brought
to the Coromandel. However the cyclone moved off the country during the
day, bringing much needed rain to the South Island and leaving the North
Island in sunshine.
This graph shows the barometric pressure during the cyclone, measured in
West Auckland.
Victoria University Satellite images of Cyclone Drena (including a map of
its path accross the ocean).
The
Ghost of Cyclones Past - MetService
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