Tag Archives: cyclone tasha

It’s so QLD, it’s QLD.so

Today we have launched a new Twitter URL shortener for Queensland: qld.so – Feel free to use it in place of your existing service.

There is a link to the Queensland Premier’s Disaster Fund on the page and if any one feels like sparing a quid or two to help out the many that have had their lives wrecked by our Summer Of Misery please feel free to do so.

If you’re in the same situation don’t worry about donating and just enjoy the service.

Have fun with it!

PS The background picture is Googarra Beach at Tully Heads/Hull Heads. It was pretty much destroyed by the storm surge during Cyclone Yasi.

Tropical Cyclone Yasi

Tropical Cyclone Anthony is a bit of a worry for those directly in its path but if the predictions are correct it won’t be much worse than TC Tasha was on Christmas day.  Tropical Cyclone Yasi is sitting behind Anthony, currently heading this way and is a bit bigger than TC Anthony.

Here is the NOAA MTSAT IR Colourised Loop for the southern hemisphere.

This is a still from the animated colourised loop if you happen to be browsing on a device that doesn’t support Flash (iPhone, iPad, etc)

NOAA MTSAT Infrared Colourised Image Loop

NOAA MTSAT Infrared Colourised Image Loop

And this is the US Navy’s predicted track map for Cyclone Yasi:

Tropical Cyclone Yasi Track Map

Tropical Cyclone Yasi Track Map

I’m hoping they have this wrong.

Edit: From the BoM three day outlook issued at 1547:

Potential Cyclones:
No other significant lows are expected to develop or move into the region on Monday, however Tropical Cyclone Yasi is currently located near Vanuatu and forecast to move west into the Coral Sea on Tuesday. Likelihood of a new tropical cyclone occurring in the Eastern Region on:

Monday: Low
Tuesday: High
Wednesday:High

NOTE: The likelihood is an estimate of the chance of each system being a tropical cyclone in the Region for each day.
Very low: less than 5% Low: 5% – 20%
Moderate: 20% – 50% High: Over 50%

Please note: These maps are only here as a living record of passing cyclones from the viewpoint of an ordinary FNQer. The info presented is out of date as soon as it is posted. If you want the latest information you should always check the BoM Cyclone page.

Cyclone tracking

A major preoccupation in FNQ at this time of year is watching the predicted and actual tracks of cyclone. This being a La Niña year, and a biggie as they go, we’ve been watching developments with interest. The best way to deal with cyclones is to be prepared and the information from the Bureau of Meteorology is invaluable. As usual, clicking an image will give you a full-sized version.

Here’s the cyclone map on the 2011-01-14:

Australian Cyclone Map

Australian Cyclone Map

And here’s the same map a day later:

Australian Cyclone map

Australian Cyclone map

TC Vince, off the coast of Western Australia, has petered out so the people in that region can relax again.

Here are the track maps of TC Zelia:

Cyclone Zelia Track Map

Cyclone Zelia Track Map

As you can see, for the first couple of days of its life it was a Tropical Low but on the 14th it was predicted to become a Category 1 Tropical Cyclone. Cat 1 is the lowest strength on a scale of 1-5.

Cyclone Zelia Track Map

Cyclone Zelia Track Map

The prediction was changed indicating that the Tropical Low would become a Cat 1 cyclone early on the 15th as the people at the Bureau of Meteorology were able to get a better idea of where it was going and how it would develop.

Cyclone Zelia Track Map

Cyclone Zelia Track Map

It turned out that the first prediction of the 14th was correct and the cyclone was duly named TC Zelia. There is an alphabetical list of 104 names that BoM uses for cyclones and Zelia will be the last of the current A-Z list. The next one will be TC Anthony.

Cyclone Zelia Track Map

Cyclone Zelia Track Map

By the evening of the 15th Zelia was still a Cat 1 cyclone but was still heading in a general south east direction.

Cyclone Zelia Track Map

Cyclone Zelia Track Map

By late on the 15th Zelia was still heading SE but had grown in intensity to a Cat 3.

Cyclone Zelia Track Map

Cyclone Zelia Track Map

As you can see from the image above, Zelia was due east of us, still a Cat 3 and is still heading SE but moving at a faster pace. It was predicted to pass west of the coast of French Caledonia at 3am this morning but the latest information from BoM hasn’t been published yet. The people of French Caledonia and Norfolk island should escape the worst of the winds but will doubtless get a good soaking.

I’ll update this post as fresh maps become available and many thanks to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for the data.

NB The various cyclone categories used in Australia can be compared to other basins here.

Cyclone Tasha aftermath

We were so busy watching the water rise at the back of the property that we didn’t see these two trees fall at the front. The Lillipilli is probably savable but the Grevillea is going to be a saw and burn job. It’s a real pity as the Grevillea not only has beautiful flowers but is also a popular nesting tree and a great source of food for birds.

grevillea

Fallen Grevillea

lillipilli

Fallen Lillipilli