For other cyclones named Harold or Herold, see List of cyclones named Harold.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Harold
Cyclone Harold at peak intensity shortly after crossing Pentecost Island in Vanuatu on April 6
Meteorological history
Formed
April 1, 2020 (April 1, 2020)
Extratropical
April 10, 2020
Dissipated
April 11, 2020 (April 11, 2020)
Category 5 severe tropical cyclone
10-minute sustained (FMS)
Highest winds
230 km/h (145 mph)
Highest gusts
325 km/h (200 mph)
Lowest pressure
920 hPa (mbar); 27.17 inHg
Category 5-equivalent tropical cyclone
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/JTWC)
Highest winds
270 km/h (165 mph)
Lowest pressure
909 hPa (mbar); 26.84 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities
31
Missing
22
Damage
$124 million (2020 USD)
Areas affected
Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga
IBTrACS / [1][2]
Part of the 2019–20 South Pacific cyclone season
Severe Tropical Cyclone Harold was a very powerful tropical cyclone which caused widespread destruction in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga during April 2020. It was the first Category 5 tropical cyclone in 2020. The seventh named storm of the 2019–20 Australian region cyclone season, eighth named storm, and fourth severe tropical cyclone of the 2019–20 South Pacific cyclone season, Harold was first noted as a developing tropical low within a trough of low pressure during April 1, while it was located to the east of Papua New Guinea. Over the next day, the system moved south-eastwards over the Solomon Sea, before it was classified as a tropical cyclone and named Harold by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The system moved into the Fiji Meteorological Service's area of responsibility on April 2 and began to explosively intensify by April 3, reaching Category 4 status by April 4 on both scales. The next day, it further strengthened into a Category 5 severe tropical cyclone, the highest rating on the Australian scale. It made landfall on Espiritu Santo on April 6 and the next day, strengthening to its peak intensity, attaining Category 5-equivalent intensity on the Saffir–Simpson scale before making landfall on Pentecost Island. Moving east, it weakened below Category 5 intensity on both scales over subsequent days. It regained Category 5 severe tropical cyclone status (on the Australian scale only) while passing south of Fiji, before weakening and becoming extratropical on April 9.
Harold was the first Category 5 severe tropical cyclone to occur in the South Pacific basin since Cyclone Gita in 2018 and was also the second-strongest tropical cyclone to ever affect Vanuatu, behind Cyclone Pam in 2015.[3] In total, 27 people died on the MV Taimareho (in the Solomon Islands), two died in Vanuatu, and one died in Fiji.
^"Tropical Cyclone Harold Scraping Parts of Tonga After Hammering Fiji and Vanuatu". The Weather Channel. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
^"Reports of Injuries, Damaged Buildings from Cyclone Harold in Fiji". The Weather Channel. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
^"Vanuatu Reeling from Category 5 Harold, Now Steaming Toward Fiji". Weather Underground. April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
Severe Tropical CycloneHarold was a very powerful tropical cyclone which caused widespread destruction in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga...
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the VP under Bob Loughman as the country dealt with the aftermath of CycloneHarold and the global COVID-19 pandemic. Vanuatu was one of the last places...
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hundreds of thousands of people after striking Fiji. A few years later, CycloneHarold also caused widespread damage. Climate change in Fiji is an exceptionally...
major hurricane strength. The season also had an above‑normal accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) rating of 148, despite the presence of the 2023–24 El Niño...
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Daman Cyclone Gita CycloneHarold - a strong cyclone in 2020 and the strongest cyclone to impact Fiji as a Category 5 severe tropical cyclone since Winston...
Severe Tropical Cyclone Pam was the second most intense tropical cyclone of the South Pacific Ocean in terms of sustained winds and is regarded as one...
principal is Pastor Philip Baniuri. Talua suffered extensive damage from CycloneHarold in April 2020. "Staff". Talua Theological Training Institute. Retrieved...
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are now overgrown and are under private ownership. Erosion caused by CycloneHarold in April 2020 revealed details of the layout of the base, including...
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Tongan general election. In 2020 his home in Tonga was destroyed by CycloneHarold. He retired as chief justice in September 2023. Zizi Averill (30 July...
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national crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Vanuatu and the impact of CycloneHarold last year, both things which have negatively impacted Vanuatu's economy...
Retrieved 2023-05-29. Aualiitia, Tahlea; Shelton, Tracey (2020-05-07). "CycloneHarold uncovers World War II military relics in Vanuatu". ABC News. Retrieved...
commonly cause notable impacts over large areas, and most popular tropical cyclone scales are organized around sustained wind speeds. However, variations...
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