On the same day Erica paralleled the coast of New Caledonia before making landfall on the southern end of the island at L'Île-des-Pins.

Cyclone Erica severely impacted the island nation of New Caledonia, causing intense winds and heavy rain.

The precursor to Cyclone Erica was an area of low pressure that formed within a monsoon trough north of the Tiwi Islands on 13 February 2003.

[1][2] It remained over the continent for the latter half of February, taking a track south of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, and then towards Queensland.

Now taking an eastward trajectory,[2] the centre of the low emerged into the Coral Sea near the Whitsunday Islands on 3 March.

[1] Data from the QuikSCAT satellite showed a center of circulation well-removed from the nearest area of strong winds and rain.

[4] While Erica had initially drifted slowly eastward due to a lack of steering influences,[3] a developing ridge of high pressure to the south and west caused the cyclone to curve towards the north.

[1][2][4] An intensifying monsoonal flow around the remnant circulation caused the storm to move towards the east, just south of the Solomon Islands.

On 10 March, it entered an environment more conducive to tropical cyclone development, characterized by low wind shear and coincident with a favourable phase of the Madden–Julian oscillation.

[1] At 18:00 UTC on 10 March, the system was redesignated as a tropical cyclone while located 370 km (230 mi) south-southwest of Honiara, Solomon Islands.

[5][3] The FMS estimated that Erica's central air pressure reached a minimum of 915 hPa (mbar; 27.02 inHg).

Several large trees were uprooted, one of which fell on a car in Cape Tribulation and another on a house in Port Douglas.

[9] Despite the rapid weakening before landfall, Erica produced intense winds, gusting to a record 202 kilometres per hour (126 mph) in Nouméa.

[13] In Yaté, police assessed that half of the population was without shelter, and in Pohé, it was estimated that 90% of the crops were destroyed by Erica.

Ministry of Overseas France head Brigitte Giradin arrived in Nouméa on 17 March to investigate the damage.