Cyclones in Australia before 1970

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Australian cyclones before 1970 were tropical weather events that had their focus in February and March. Prior to the start of systematic satellite observation of this area, records of tropical cyclones were rather random and incomplete as many storms went undetected. The reports on the effects are patchy and often not very precise, especially for the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 20th century, the weather observations became more and more detailed, but in the first half of the century the warning was practically non-existent. At the beginning of the 1960s, the Bureau of Meteorology began to give names to tropical cyclones based on the American model . The era of global weather observation by geostationary satellites began in the Australian region around 1966.

18th and 19th centuries

Probably the earliest known cyclone in the southern hemisphere hit the Banda Islands in April 1778 . The storm covered almost all the houses. The islands were also hit by a cyclone in 1811. In April 1841, a cyclone on Roti Island killed 75 residents and destroyed many of the homes. Around 1855, a tropical cyclone uprooted numerous trees in the Kei Islands .

On December 24, 1875, 59 sailors lost their lives when the center of a cyclone swept across the Exmouth Gulf. Several schooners were driven onto the coast and were shipwrecked. On January 9, 1880, a cyclone passed Yammadery Creek between Onslow and the Fortescue River. The storm surge reached eight meters above the normal high water mark. The Adalia shipwrecked on the Robe River and some of the crew drowned.

On the evening of March 7, 1882, a severe cyclone hit Roebourne and Cossack and damaged almost every house in the two settlements. A minimum air pressure of 942 hPa was measured in Cossack. While significant sheep populations were lost in the area, only one person was injured in the population. On April 22, 1887, an unexpectedly late cyclone struck a fleet of ships on Ninety Mile Beach near Broome , Western Australia, killing 140 people. Significant flooding was observed in Cossack on March 1, 1889 when a cyclone hit flood. The Waratah and its crew were lost off Cape Preston and a man drowned in the river at Roebourne. In 1889, the Apia cyclone hit the port of Apia , Samoa, and sank several ships there, killing at least 147 sailors.

On January 4 and 9, 1894, two cyclones crossed the Pilbara coast in five days . The first cyclone caused damage to many buildings in Roebourne and Cossack. The second cyclone widened this damage. It is believed that more than forty people were killed by the two cyclones. Twelve cutters and the steamship Anne were destroyed. The damage amounted to about 15,000 pounds. More than 15,000 sheep were lost to the two storms. Four years later, Cossack was again in the path of a cyclone. According to tradition, the event of April 2, 1898 caused greater damage than any previous storm. Tramways, tracks, roads and bridges were destroyed and telegraph lines torn down. Houses collapsed and boats snatched from their moorings. The damage was estimated at more than 30,000 pounds. Whim Creek recorded 747mm of rain in 24 hours, the highest rainfall ever recorded in Western Australia .

1899 is remembered in Australia as the year with the highest number of natural disaster casualties. By the cyclone Mahina , who in Bathurst Bay in Queensland arrived on March 4 Over Land, lost 400-410 people their lives. The 13.5 m high storm surge was the highest ever recorded.

20th century

In April 1908, a tropical cyclone hit the Kisar Islands , killing 150 people. Another cyclone storm hit Ninety Mile Beach on April 27, killing more than fifty people. After a cyclone in January 1909, the town of Onslow was hit by a second storm on April 5th and 6th. Four cutters with a total of 24 crew members were lost, many houses and boats were damaged.

A cyclone passed directly over Broome on November 19, 1910 and caused considerable damage. Twenty-six boats sank, 40 people were killed. In 1911 a cyclone landed between Cape Upstart and Cape Bowling Green. The storm destroyed the ship Yongala and all 120 people on board were killed. On January 4th, a cyclone hit the coast between Cossack and Onslow, Western Australia. The Glenbank was lost off Legendre Island and the entire crew, with the exception of one man, lost their lives. In 1912 a tropical cyclone crossed the coast west of Balla Balla near Port Hedland . 150 people lost their lives in this natural disaster.

One of the most destructive cyclones in Australia was the Mackay Cyclone in 1918 , which hit the city of Mackay , Queensland directly on January 21st . The Eye of the Cyclone passed north of the city just after sunrise. The air pressure was probably less than 932.6 mbar - the lowest value that the barometer could show on site. Few buildings in and around Mackay escaped the storm without significant damage. The storm surge rose four feet above its normal maximum tidal range, and an eyewitness reported that waves two to three meters high broke on Main Street in the city. Telegraph connections to the city were destroyed. The heavy rainfall associated with the cyclone - 627mm on January 22nd, 438mm on January 23rd and 346mm on January 24th resulted in the highest recorded water level of the Pioneer River at the time . The damage from this cyclone was not limited to Mackay, but also in Rockhampton , 200 kilometers away , houses were covered and trees were uprooted; Damage has also been reported from Yeppoon , Queensland and Mount Morgan , Queensland. The persistent rain that this cyclone brought with it is responsible for the Rockhampton Flood of 1918 . A total of 30 people died as a result of this cyclone and its effects.

The cyclone that made landfall on March 10, 1918 in the Innisfail , Queensland area was no weaker. In Innisfail, only 12 houses survived the storm largely unscathed. Damage was even recorded in Cairns, 100 kilometers further north in the inland in the Atherton Tableland. A storm surge with a tidal range of 3.6 m above normal was observed in Mission Beach . The lowest measured air pressure was 926 hPa, but since the measuring devices were damaged when the cyclone passed through, there is no measurement from this phase. Estimates assume a central air pressure of less than 910 hPa.

On March 21, 1923, a cyclone that had formed east of the Cape York Peninsula hit the normally cyclone-free Torres Strait Islands . He then moved through the Carpentaria Gulf , where twenty people perished in the sinking of the Douglas Mawson . The cyclone died around April 2, 1923.

A cyclone on January 21, 1925, washed away a five-kilometer section of railroad near Roebourne , Western Australia and severely damaged the bridge over Pope's Nose Creek. In Cossack Creek, the storm surge caused the water to rise so high that the main road and the surrounding area were flooded. Seven loggers and a schooner were pushed up to 100 m into the mangroves by the storm surge . No house in Roebourne itself remained undamaged. The Jubilee Hotel lost its roof and the town's other two hotels were badly damaged.

On March 12, 1934, a strong cyclone crossed the coast of Far North Queensland at Cape Tribulation . The pearl fishermen's fleet there was destroyed and 75 people lost their lives. The cities of Daintree and Mossman were devastated. The tropical cyclone with the second highest casualty rate in the 20th century hit the Lacepede Islands near Broome in 1935, wiping out 141 lives. Nine people died on January 11, 1939 when the excursion ship Nicol Bay sank on the Ashburton River as a result of a cyclone . The cyclone also damaged a number of buildings in Roebourne.

A storm struck Port Hedland on March 24, 1942. Nine pearl fishing boats lying in the roadstead were blown out into the sea, two seamen died in the process, and all the houses in the city were more or less damaged. Since the tide was ebb there was only minor damage from the flood. The strongest gusts of this storm were estimated at 230 km / h. Roebourne and Point Samson suffered severe damage on March 6, 1945 when the Harding River overflowed. The peak wind speed in gusts of 117 km / h was measured in this cyclone.

A total of 15 cities in Queensland, including Gladstone and Rockhampton, which the cyclone hit directly, were damaged or destroyed on March 2, 1949. A total of seven people were killed and 1,000 homes in Rockhampton were affected. During the peak, an air pressure of 960 hPa and peak gusts of 160 km / h were measured in Rockhampton. 635 mm of rain within 24 hours were recorded in Yeppoon, Queensland. On March 22, 1953, a cyclone moved across land west of Onslow, covering roofs and destroying the town's pier. The peak gusts were estimated at 184 km / h. The damage from the cyclone was estimated at 50,000 Australian pounds.

In 1954 a cyclone hit the Gold Coast. He came less than 100 km from Brisbane and then headed for Sydney. The winds created strong swells that rolled up the swollen Richmond River. 26 people died. On December 31, 1954, every building in Roebourne in Western Australia was hit by a cyclone. The pier at Point Samson and a locomotive shed were destroyed. The storm drove the Dulverton onto the bank. The eye passed over Lewis Island and in the afternoon over Roebourne. The damage at Coolwanyah and Pyramid was also substantial.

In 1956, a cyclone impacted mainland Australia for 17 days as it traveled the entire coast of Western Australia. It moved directly over Perth and caused damage to buildings there and in the area. Between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. local time on February 14, 1957, the eye of a cyclone passed directly over Broome, gale force winds were measured from February 13 at 11:00 p.m. to February 15 at 5:00 p.m. The storm killed two people and four others were injured when a house collapsed. Many structures were destroyed or damaged and the property damage was measured at 80,000 pounds.

In March 1958, two cyclones crossed the coastline at Onslow within two weeks. The storm of March 4, 1958 with peak gusts of up to 172 km / h covered some houses and cut communications, but the overall damage was not assessed as serious. The second cyclone on March 15th caused more extensive damage. About half of the Onslow pier was washed away and the storm surge broke through the coastal defenses, flooding the town. The peak gusts were measured at 202 km / h and the precipitation totaled 283 mm.

In April 1960, the Straat Jahore got caught in a tropical cyclone. In December of the same year, a cyclone hit the Saumlaki settlement , which was almost completely destroyed. Thousands of palm trees were uprooted by the storm.

In 1961, Onslow was hit by three cyclones in just five weeks. The first storm in this series flooded the city 180 cm high on January 25th. The second storm on February 12th accumulated 274mm of precipitation. The third cyclone on March 2, 1961 caused further property damage.

A heavy cyclone with gusts of up to 231 km / h moved overland near Onslow on February 7, 1963. Almost all houses were damaged, telegraph poles were knocked down. Heavy rain caused flooding in the area. The precipitation from this cyclone was 356 mm.

Cyclone Audrey from January 7-14, 1964 caused damage in the eastern Carpentaria Gulf; the damage from heavy rains and wind later also affected extensive areas in southern Queensland . On April 2, 1966, Cyclone Shirley landed at King Bay . A nearby ship reported wind speeds of up to 204 km / h. The storm destroyed some buildings in Roebourne, Western Australia. The Sherlock Meteorological Station recorded 404 mm of rainfall and subsequent floods damaged Mount Goldsworthy and Hamersley railways under construction, roads and other facilities on the Pilbara coast . Measured against the intensity of the cyclone, the damage caused was still rather minor.

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ^ A b c d Gary Padgett: Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary December 2001 . April 22, 2002. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
  2. ↑ a b c d Bureau of Meteorology (1998). Tropical Cyclones (A Guide for Mariners in Northwest Australia) , Pamphlet, Commonwealth of Australia
  3. ↑ a b c d e BoM - Tropical Cyclones affecting Onslow
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j BoM - Tropical Cyclones affecting Karratha / Dampier
  5. ↑ A town destroyed and a ship lost, March 1911 ( Memento of April 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ The wreck of the "Koombana", March 1912 ( Memento from April 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ^ Tropical Cyclones in Queensland
  8. ^ Tropical Cyclones in Queensland
  9. ↑ a b Bureau of Meteorology (1992). Climate of Queensland , Commonwealth of Australia ISBN 0-644-24331-7
  10. ↑ PDF at www.australiasevereweather.com
  11. ↑ The wreck of the "Koombana", March 1912 ( Memento from April 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ^ BoM - Tropical Cyclones affecting Port Hedland
  13. ↑ Callaghan, J. "Australian Severe Weather: Tropical cyclone impacts along the East Coast 1858-2000". Page 19. ( PDF )
  14. ↑ Gold Coast cyclone, February 1954 ( Memento from July 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ Western Australia, February / March 1956 ( Memento from April 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ^ BoM - Tropical Cyclones affecting Broome