Cyclone Elisa (2008)

Tropical Cyclone Elisa (RSMC Nadi Designation:07F JTWC Designation:11P) was the seventh tropical disturbance, the sixth tropical depression, and the second tropical cyclone to form west of 160°E within the 2007-08 South Pacific cyclone season. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported that Elisa was also the third tropical cyclone within the South Pacific Ocean as well as the eleventh cyclone in the Southern Hemisphere during the 2007-08 season.

Late on January 6, RSMC Nadi designated an area of low pressure near the International dateline as a tropical disturbance. The next day they upgraded it to a tropical depression and designated it as Tropical Depression 07F. Over the next few days the depression moved westwards but did not intensify any further. On January 10 the JTWC upgraded the depression to a cyclone and assigned the number 11P to the storm. Soon afterwards, RSMC Nadi named the cyclone as Elisa. Later that day, Elisa attained its peak wind speeds of 50 knots (60 mph, 95 km/h), which made it a category two cyclone on the Australian Cyclone Intensity Scale, as well as a tropical storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The next day Elisa rapidly weakened in to a tropical low, with both the RSMC Nadi and the JTWC issuing their final advisories on Elisa as it dissipated. As Cyclone Elisa did not affect any land it caused no damage or casualties, and as a consequence was not retired by the WMO.

Meteorological History
Late on January 6, the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre in Nadi, Fiji started to issue tropical disturbance summaries on an area of low pressure which was located to the west of the International Dateline, and designated it as a tropical disturbance. At first, the disturbance slowly moved towards the south and was forecast not to strengthen into a tropical cyclone within the next 36 hours. The next morning, RSMC Nadi noted that the disturbance had gained more organization and so upgraded the disturbance to a tropical depression and designated it as Tropical Depression 07F. When the disturbance was upgraded to a depression it was located in an environment which had low to moderate sheer. RSMC Nadi noted that most of the global models were forecasting that the depression would move towards the southwest with very little intensification. As a result of this, RSMC Nadi forecast that the depression had a moderate chance of developing in to a tropical cyclone within 24 hours.

During January 8, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center started to track the depression, and forecast that the depression had a fair chance of becoming a significant cyclone within the next 24 hours. However the JTWC did not issue a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert until the next day when they upgraded the depressions chances of developing into a Tropical Cyclone within 24 hours to good. Later that day RSMC Nadi forecast that the depression had a moderate to high chance of becoming a tropical cyclone within 24 hours. Early on January 10, RSMC Nadi started to issue tropical disturbance advisories on the tropical depression as the RSMC forecast the depression to have a high chance of intensifying in to a cyclone. At the same time, the JTWC upgraded the depression to a cyclone and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 11P. Later that day, RSMC Nadi also upgraded the depression to a cyclone and named it as Tropical Cyclone Elisa.

Later on January 10, Elisa then reached both its 1 and 10 minute peak wind speeds of 50 knots (60 mph, 95 km/h). This made Elisa a category two cyclone on the Australian Cyclone Intensity Scale. Elisa's 1 minute peak winds were equivalent to a tropical storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Early the next day, the JTWC, issued their final advisory on Elisa, due to the storm encountering increasing vertical wind shear as well as lower sea surface temperatures. The final advisory came as Elisa moved towards the southern edge of RSMC Nadi's area of responsibility and weakened in to a category one cyclone on the Australian Scale. Later that day, RSMC Nadi terminated the issuing of tropical disturbance advisories and issued their final tropical disturbance summary as they had downgraded Elisa to a tropical low.

Impact and naming
There were no deaths and damages reported from Cyclone Elisa; however the remnants of Elisa brought heavy rainfall to Niue. The name Elisa was not retired after this season. Tropical Cyclone Elisa was the weakest named tropical cyclone that formed within the 2007–08 South Pacific cyclone season.