1970-75 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons

The 1970-1975 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons ran year-round from July 1 to June 30 during each year between 1970 and 1975. Tropical cyclone activity in the Southern Hemisphere reaches its peak from mid-February to early March.

1970–71 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season

The following storms occurred in the Australian Region during the 1970/71 tropical cyclone season: [Bureau of Meteorology (1973) "Tropical Cyclones in the Northern Australian Regions 1970-1971" Australian Government Publishing Service]

*Beverley, 26 November to 1 December 1970 in Arafura Sea. The decayed storm developed into Eva (below)
*Rosie, weak cyclone late December 1970 near New Caledonia
*Sophie, weak cyclone late December 1970 near New Caledonia
*Aggie, 1 to 4 February 1971 in Gulf of Carpentaria and Arnhem Land
*Dora, 10 to 18 February 1971 off Queensland
*Gertie, 11 to 16 February 1971 crossed near Townsville, Queensland and developed into Fiona (below)
*Ida, 15 to 22 February 1971 in Coral Sea
*Fiona, 17 to 28 February developed from remains of Gertie in Gulf of Carpentaria
*Lena, 13 to 20 March 1971 near New Caledonia

*Andrea, 31 October to 11 November 1970 in central Indian Ocean
*Carmen, 20 to 26 November 1970 in central Indian Ocean
*Eva, 1 to 12 December 1970 caused flooding over the Kimberley region of Western Australia
*Hilary, 11 to 18 December 1970 in central Indian Ocean
*Janet, 19 to 25 December 1970 in central Indian Ocean
*Loris, 26 to 31 December 1970 crossed the Pilbara coast near Mandora with no serious damage.
*Myrtle/Ginette, 15 to 19 January 1971 near Cocos Island and moved west
*Polly, 20 to 29 January 1971 in central Indian Ocean
*Rita, 23 to 30 January 1971 passed over Exmouth, Western Australia with flood damage only.
*Sheila-Sophie, 29 January to 6 February 1971 crossed coast near Roebourne, Western Australia with some damage
*Tilly, 10 to 14 February 1971 in central Indian Ocean
*Yvonne, 9 to 24 February 1971 near Cocos Island and moved west
*Kalinka, February 1971 in central Indian Ocean near Mauritius
*Maggie/Muriel, 7 to 20 March 1971 in central Indian Ocean
*Mavis, 23 to 29 March 1971 crossed coast near Denham, Western Australia causing flooding

1971–72 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season

Cyclone Althea (1971)

Tropical Cyclone Althea was a Category 4 cyclone when it hit Magnetic Island and Townsville in North Queensland on December 24 1971. Althea produced peak gust wind speeds between 123 and 145 miles per hour (197 and 233 km/h). Three people died and property damage was estimated at AU$115 million loss (1990 value). On Magnetic Island 90% of the houses were damaged or destroyed. In Townsville houses were lifted from their foundations and most trees stripped of foliage. Althea was also notable at the time, as it had struck a major city.

Although there was a dangerous storm surge associated with TC Althea (between 2.8 and 3.6 metres) little flooding occurred because the cyclone made landfall on a low tide. However, the combination of storm surge and wave action demolished The Strand sea wall and houses in low-lying areas were inundated with up to 0.6 metres of water.

Other cyclones

As well as Althea, the following storms occurred in the Australian Region during the 1971/72 tropical cyclone season: Bureau of Meteorology (1975) "Tropical Cyclones in the Northern Australian Regions 1971-1972" Australian Government Publishing Service]

*Ursula, 2 to 16 December 1971 in Solomon Islands area
*Kitty, 2 to 5 December 1971 in the Arafura Sea
*Bronwyn, 3 to 12 January 1972 in Gulf of Carpentaria
*Carlotta, 5 to 21 January 1972 well off Queensland
*Wendy, 30 January to 9 February 1972 very intense off Queensland, possible pressure as low as 890hPa
*Daisy, 7 to 14 February 1972 off Queensland, caused some flooding near Brisbane
*Emily, 27 March to 4 April 1972 off Queensland, eight lives lost at sea
*Faith, 11 to 23 April 1972 in Torres Strait and Coral Sea off Queensland
*Gail, 11 to 18 April 1972 well off Queensland
*Hannah, 8 to 11 May near Papua New Guinea
*Ida, 30 May to 3 June 1972 near Solomon Islands causing $70 million damage.

*Rhoda, 20 to 26 October 1971 in central Indian Ocean
*Sally, 3 to 13 December 1971 crossed coast near Broome, Western Australia.
*Tessie, 20 to 27 February 1972 in central Indian Ocean
*Vicky, 24 February to 4 March 1972 crossed Western Australian coast at Cockatoo Island.
*Angela, 29 February to 3 March 1972 near Cocos Island and Christmas Island
*Belinda, 20 to 30 March 1972 near Christmas Island
*Carol, 6 to 14 April 1972 in central Indian Ocean

1972–73 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season

Cyclone Bebe

Tropical cyclone Bebe was a very early-season storm that occurred from 19 to 25 October 1972 near Fiji.

Cyclone Kerry

At Wickham on 21 January 1973 more than 30 houses were partly unroofed and some houses received major damage. There was no damage to buildings in Dampier, Roebourne or Karratha as the cyclone crossed the coast well to the east. Kerry passed close to a number of oil-drilling rigs causing damage and lost productivity time that cost over one million dollars. Maximum recorded gust was 140km/h at Cape Lambert. [http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/wa/cyclone/about/roebourne/ BoM - Tropical Cyclones affecting Karratha/Dampier ] ]

Unnamed Tropical Cyclone

On 27 April, a tropical cyclone formed near Flores. It moved near the island and dissipated two days later.

The cyclone was a major disaster. It sank a ship, with all 21 hands lost, as well as killing around 1500 fishers at sea. On the island of Flores, 53 were killed.cite web|url=http://australiasevereweather.com/cyclones/2002/summ0112.htm|title=Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary December 2001|author=Gary Padgett|date=2002-04-20|accessdate=2007-10-21]

1973–74 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season

Cyclone Lottie

Cyclone Lottie struck Fiji's Southern Lau Group on December 10th. High seas caused the ship Uluilakeba to capsize killing more than 85 people. [http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?ref=archive&id=59508] [http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=be0b7fae6f3eb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1]

Cyclone Wanda (1974)

This cyclone existed from 24 January to 27 January 1974 and led to extensive flooding over southeast Queensland. Although this tropical cyclone was relatively weak, it dropped enormous quantities of rain on south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales over the Australia Day (26-27 January) weekend, resulting in some of the worst flooding seen in a century. The Queensland state capital, Brisbane, fared particularly badly, with fourteen lives lost and parts of the city submerged under 2 metres of the Brisbane River. (See 1974 Brisbane flood.) In northern New South Wales, a further two fatalities were reported. The cyclone's final toll: 16 dead, over 300 injured; 56 homes destroyed, a further 1,600 submerged; 8000 people left homeless.Bureau of Meteorology (1992). "Climate of Queensland", Commonwealth of Australia ISBN 0-644-24331-7]
* [http://www.bom.gov.au/lam/climate/levelthree/c20thc/flood7.htm Australian Bureau of Meteorology article: The Big Wet - January 1974]
* [http://www.acn.net.au/articles/naturaldisasters/ Natural Disasters in Australia]

1974–75 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season

Cyclone Selma

Cyclone Selma was predicted to impact Darwin, but it dissipated before it impacted land.

Cyclone Tracy (1974)

135 mph Cyclone Tracy hit the city of Darwin, Australia on the night of December 24, 1974, causing 71 deaths and extreme damage.

Cyclone Trixie (1975)

Wind gusts of 259 km/h at Mardie and 246 km/h at Onslow, Western Australia were measured during cyclone Trixie in 19 February 1975. The Onslow anemometer was destroyed after measuring the gust of 246 km/h during this storm. The gust at Mardie is the second highest recorded on the Australian mainland. [http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/wa/cyclone/about/onslow/ BoM - Tropical Cyclones affecting Onslow ] ]

Cyclone Beverley

Tropical cyclone Beverley affected Exmouth, Western Australia and the west coast in March 1975.

Cyclone Vida

On 20 March 1975 winds were recorded to 128 km/h at Fremantle and 109 km/h in Perth, Western Australia. There was some damage including St George's Cathedral and Perry Lakes Stadium. At Rockingham a 7 m yacht sank, a 6m cabin cruiser was destroyed and many other craft were damaged. [ [http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/wa/cyclone/about/perth/index.shtml BoM - Tropical Cyclones affecting Perth ] ]

ee also

*List of Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons
*list of notable tropical cyclones

External links

* [http://www.idro.com.au/disaster_list/default.asp Cyclone Damage]

References