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 QLD:
Cyclone Ingrid crosses CYP with minimal damage
TC Ingrid crossed the Cape York Peninsula central coast 55km south of New
Lockhart River at 7am with a central pressure of 965hPa and wind gusts estimated
at 220km/h out to 20km from the centre. Shortly before making landfall, the
Bureau intensified the system to a category 4 with central pressure 960hPa
at 4am. The compact system, with damaging winds forecast only out to 50km from
the centre, coupled with its landfall over sparsely populated country, minimised
its impact. Rainfall was also relatively brief and less than expected. Lockhart
River AWS, the closest station to the landfall and located 6km inland from
where the river enters
the
sea,
reported
a pressure
of 1000.7
at
6am,
a top wind gust of 76km/h shortly before and 83mm
of rain
3am to noon.
Tides at Lockhart River, where about 70 boats -- mostly prawn
trawlers -- sheltered in the mangrove swamps of Lloyd Bay, were reported
as being about 1m above predicted. As Lockhart River was in the offshore
winds
of the
cyclone,
it is
likely that the area of onshore winds south of Ingrid's centre received
higher storm tides and some saltwater inundation. Unconfirmed press reports
said a 30km stretch of coast received tides 3m above normal. Much farther south
at Cairns, the surge raised sea levels 25cm above the king-tide mark
causing
some
minor
flooding in the city's north. Around 700 people in Lockhart River were evacuated
to shelters around 4am and the
town
lost power
about 7am.
However, no structural damage was reported in the shire, though trees were
blown down and there was considerable
tree debris on roads.
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| Hourly animation of Weipa radar from 8pm 9 March
to 3am 11 March shows the progress of Ingrid's rain area across CYP. The
eye is not visible before landfall as it is beyond radar range. The compact
and relatively light rain area is unusual. BoM |
Ingrid gradually ran out of puff as it crossed a virtually unpopulated part
of the peninsula at about 15km/h during the day, skirting north of Coen where
the top wind gust was 72km/h around 8am. An
eyewitness account of the passage of the cyclone's eye soon after it made landfall
came from
grazier
John
Armbrusc, whose property is 50km W of Lockhart River.
The strongest winds were from 8 to 11am, with the eye passing about 10am. He
told The Courier-Mail that a tree flattened one of his storage sheds
and heavy branches were flung across his yard, but what stunned him most was
the
hundreds
of birds
that came
pouring
out of the eye. "There were hundreds of them," he said. "They
must have been caught in the vortex of the cyclone and couldn't get out. They
weren't saying anything, they were probably too surprised. We've still
got hundreds of seagulls who just seem to be resting down in the quarry." He
said the wind treated trees like matchsticks and estimated windspeeds of up
to 200km/h. Not much damage was done to his home, but he said "I've never
seen so much damaged timber in my life."
By 10pm, Ingrid had moved into
the Gulf of Carpentaria where it was located 30km NW of Aurukun with a category
1 tag, a central pressure of 992hPa and maximum wind gusts of 100km/h. During
the morning, however, Weipa, with a population of 2,000, was put on code blue.
Schools and much of the commercial centre were closed, ships moved from
the harbour, smaller boats moved into river estuaries, commercial flights were
cancelled, and
the Comalco
bauxite
mine
readied,
including the loading
of empty
trucks
with ore to weigh them down. In the event, although there were strong winds
and brief heavy rain, the cyclone caused no damage in the area. The heaviest
rain on the Peninsula was recorded after 9am yesterday with Piccaninny Plains
Station, 110km ESE of Weipa, reporting 149.0mm for the 24 hours to 9am Friday.
See also this Bureau
of Meteorology special report.
 WA: Cyclone Willy
named
TC Willy was named around midnight this morning when 710km NW of Broome moving
west at 14km/h with a central pressure of 995hPa. By late this evening its
pressure was down to 980hPa as it tracked WSW some 635km NNW of Karratha.
NT: Hot days continue
March heat continued in the central NT with Katherine recording its hottest
March day in 20 years with a maximum of 39.0. Larrimah (with 40 years of
record) and Daly Waters equalled their March records of 41.0, while Gove,
Tindal and
Mango
Farm were
all within
a degree of their March records.
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