Qld escapes deadly cyclone in below average season
North Queensland’s cyclone season has been far quieter than in previous years, luckily escaping the wrath of deadly Tropical Cyclone Harold.
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North Queensland’s cyclone season has been far quieter than previous years, luckily escaping the wrath of deadly Tropical Cyclone Harold.
A tropical low formed just south of Papua New Guinea and moved away from Australia as it developed into a category 5 storm, killing multiple people near the Solomon Islands before lashing Vanuatu.
Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Shane Kennedy said TC Harold had sustained winds of 250km/h, with gusts peaking at 300km/h.
The bureau noted the storm formed on April 1 and it intensified as it tracked slowly east and south-eastwards, reaching category 5 strength on April 5. TC Harold is now a category 4 system as it heads toward Fiji.
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Mr Kennedy said North Queensland had experienced a “below average” cyclone season.
“We had a few in our region, but only a few cyclones crossed the coast,” he said.
“It was not quite half a season, but about two thirds of a season.”
Just two cyclones tracked through the Eastern region, which covers Queensland, these were Uesi and Gretel. Typically the Eastern region averages four cyclones a season.
Gretel was a tropical low when it crossed the Gulf of Carpentaria before forming into a cyclone south of New Caledonia, where it reached a category 2 system. Gretel caused abnormally high tides and large surf about the southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales coasts.
The bureau forecast fewer than average numbers of tropical cyclones this season, with higher than average pressure over Northern Australia and a neutral El Niño-Southern Oscillation influencing the season.
Mr Kennedy said April was a “transition month” which typically marked the end of cyclone season.
He said there was a trough over the tropical north but we were unlikely to “see another tropical monsoon burst” needed for a cyclone to form.
Mr Kennedy said Queensland’s season was below average because of a dry end to 2019. He said poor rainfall from October to December had led to drier wet season.
From October to April there has been just 664mm of rain recorded at the Townsville Airport, way down from the average of 1042mm.
The year to date rainfall is slightly below average, with 658mm recorded, compared to the average of 833mm.
Originally published as Qld escapes deadly cyclone in below average season