Tropical Cyclone Cilla was a tropical cyclone that brought minor damage to several islands in the South Pacific in January 2003. The fifth cyclone of the 2002–03 South Pacific cyclone season, Cyclone Cilla developed from a monsoon trough on January 26 northwest of Fiji. Initially, Cilla moved east, and due to decreased wind shear, Cilla was able to intensify. On January 28, Cilla reached its peak intensity of 75 km/h (45 mph). After slightly weakening, Cilla briefly re-intensified the next day. However, Cilla transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on January 30. Along its path, Cilla dropped heavy rainfall over islands it passed. During its formative stages, the low dropped heavy rain over Fiji, which had already been affected by Cyclone Ami two weeks prior. Damage in Tonga was mostly limited to vegetation and fruit trees; infrastructural damage was also relatively minor. Cilla also brought moderate rain to American Samoa. Meteorological history On January 25, 2003, a low-pressure area formed within a monsoon trough about northwest of Fiji and moved to the east-southeast. That morning, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began to issue warnings on the system, designating it as 12P. Shortly thereafter, Cilla turned southeast hours later in the general direction of Tonga Early on January 26, RSMC Nadi designated the low as Tropical Depression 07F, after attaining 10-minute sustained winds of 35 mph (55 km/h). At the time, the slow moving system had a poorly defined center of circulation that was hard to identify via radar and satellite imagery. In addition, most of the deep thunderstorm activity was displaced to the north and southeast of the center. Later that morning, the JTWC reported winds of ; however, the depression did not become any better organized throughout the day. Early the next day, RSMC Nadi upgraded the tropical depression to a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian intensity scale and named it Cilla. By 0600 UTC January 27, the JTWC reported that Cilla had attained 1-minute sustained winds of , which according to JTWC data, was its peak intensity. Subsequently, Cilla turned east-southeast. Throughout the day, wind shear conditions lessened further; however, shower activity separated from the center, prompting the JTWC to issue its last warning on Tropical Cyclone Cilla later that day. At 2100 UTC January 27, RMSC Nadi remarked that the cyclone had become better organized. Upon attaining peak intensity, the storm passed fairly closed to