Cyclone Eseta  developed into a category 1 tropical cyclone 23 December 1988 to the south east of Vanuatu. During December 24, the system intensified further to category 2 had peaking with 10-minute sustained wind speeds of 100 km/h. A mid latitude trough over the Tasman sea steered Eseta towards the subtropics where the transition to an extratropical cyclone commenced around Christmas day

By 27 December, Eseta was a strong extratropical cyclone in the subtropics but started to weaken as it appraoched the Upper North Island. On 28 December, Eseta was a moderate cyclone that bought gales and heavy rain from across the Upper North Island over the next 24 hours. Cyclone Eseta caused flooding and land slip damage from 29 to 30 December.

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Tropical summary

Name
Category 
Lowest pressure
Lowest land pressure
Mean Wind Speed 
Affected land
 

Eseta 
2
980 hPa
#
100 km/h (G- 140 km/h)
#

Ex-TC summary

Name
Category 
Lowest pressure
Lowest land pressure
Mean Wind Speed 
Affected upper NI