2003–04 Australian region cyclone season

Cyclone season in the Australian region May 2020 Aus 2004 2003-2004 Australian region cyclone season summary.png 6 December 2003 27 March 2004 Fay 910 115 10 13 9 5 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06 2003–04 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season 2003–04 South Pacific cyclone season The 2003–04 Australian region cyclone season was a slightly below average tropical cyclone season. It began on 1 November 2003 and ended on 30 April 2004. The regional tropical cyclone operational plan also defines a tropical cyclone year separately from a tropical cyclone season, which runs from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004. Tropical cyclones in this area are monitored by four Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs): the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in Perth, Darwin, and Brisbane; and TCWC Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.August 2012 __TOC__ Systems Severe Tropical Cyclone Jana Aus 6 December 12 December Jana 2003-12-09 0715Z.jpg Jana 2003 track.png 85 80 950 Formed on 6 December and dissipated on 12 December.Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary December 2003 Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie Aus 16 December 23 December Debbie 19 dec 2003 0430Z.jpg Debbie 2003 track.png 65 65 970 Formed on 16 December and dissipated on 23 December. Crossed the Northern Territory coast as a Category 1. Tropical Low Ken Aus low 1 January 6 January Tropical Cyclone Ken 05 jan 2004 0230Z.jpg Ken 2004 track.png 40 35 992 Formed on 1 January 2004 and dissipated on 6 January.Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary January 2004 Operationally monitored Ken to have reached tropical cyclone intensity for 24 hours, but post-analysis revealed that Ken never was a tropical cyclone.July 2003 to June 2004 Tropical Cyclones in the Australian Region Monsoon Depression Aus 10 January 17 January 35 Existed between 10 and 17 January. Caused heavy rainfall across western Queensland and New South Wales. Tropical Cyclone Linda Aus 28 January 1 February Linda 2004-01-31 0730Z.jpg Linda 2004 track.png 50.5 45 985 Formed on 28 January and dissipated on 1 February. Tropical Cyclone Fritz Aus 10 February 15 February Fritz 2004-02-12 0440Z.jpg Fritz 2004 track.png 50 35 985 A tropical low developed on 10 February in the northern Coral Sea, within an active monsoon trough. The system developed rapidly and becoming Tropical Cyclone Fritz when it was northeast of Cooktown. Fritz moved rapidly to the west, and made landfall on the northern Queensland coast with winds of 75 km/h. The storm lost its tropical character as it crossed the Cape York Peninsula and entered the Gulf of Carpentaria on 11 February. The low reintensified over the favourable conditions in the Gulf, and reached its peak with 95 km/h winds near Mornington Island. Radar imagery showed evidence of an eye as the storm passed over the island on 12 February. It then crossed over the coast onto mainland Australian and degenerated overland. The remnant travelled over Northern Territory and Western Australia, before merging with a cold front to the south of Perth. Cyclone Fritz brought up to 309 mm of rain to the Cairns area. This led to a number of landslides, one of which caused severe property damage in Yorkeys Knob. There was flash flooding near Innisfail when 74 mm of rain fell in one hour. Fritz uprooted a number of trees on Mornington Island, but there was no other damage there. There were no casualties from the storm.Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary February 2004 Severe Tropical Cyclone Monty Aus 25 February 3 March Monty 29 feb 2004 0235Z.jpg Monty 2004 track.png 99.1 110 935 Cyclone Monty Cyclone Monty was a small cyclone that formed off the Kimberley coast around 27 February 2004. Monty then strengthened into a Category 4 cyclone as it moved parallel with the Pilbara coast. The cyclone made landfall near Mardie Station as a Category 3 cyclone on 1 March. Monty damaged several boats and caused isolated flooding. Tropical Low Evan Aus low 27 February 4 March Tropical Cyclone Evan 01 mar 2004 0425Z.jpg Evan 2004 track.png 35 30 991 Formed on 27 February and dissipated on 4 March. Crossed Groote Eylandt and the Northern Territory mainland, causing flooding.Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary March 2004 Subtropical Storm Aus subtropical 2 March 5 March Unnamed Subtrpoical Storm 2004-03-05 0050Z.jpg A subtropical cyclone formed on 2 March and crossed the coast in southeast Queensland on 5 March, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. A storm surge caused inundation along the coasts. Tropical Cyclone Nicky–Helma Aus 8 March 10 March (Exited basin) Nicky 2004-03-10 0740Z.jpg Nicky-Helma 2004 path.png 50.5 60 985 Formed on 8 March, moved west of the region on 10 March, and was renamed Helma. Severe Tropical Cyclone Fay Aus Fay 2004-03-21 0541Z.jpg Fay 2004 path.png 12 March 28 March 115 130 910 Cyclone Fay A low-pressure system formed in the Gulf of Carpentaria and moved westward into the Timor Sea; it was named Tropical Cyclone Fay on 16 March. Fay was 400 km north of Wyndham and 330 kilometres west northwest of Darwin. There were reports along the Kimberley Coast of gale-force winds. On 21 March, Cyclone Fay intensified even further as the storm approached Scott Reef where significant damage occurred. Looping back towards the Kimberley coast, Fay – now a Category 3 system – approached to within 90 km of Broome on 25 March, before turning to the south-west. Broome experienced strong winds with gale-force gusts, some heavy rain and heavy seas but escaped serious damage. Fay then headed further away from the coast on the 25th before resuming a general southerly track on the 26th. Fay crossed the Pilbara coast between the pastoral stations of Pardoo and Wallal between 8 am and 9 am WST on 27 March as a Category 4 storm with estimated maximum wind gusts of around 235 km/h near the center.BoM - WA Tropical Cyclone Season Summary 2003-04 The cyclone weakened as it moved inland. Little wind damage was reported from the storm despite its intensity as it made landfall in a remote part of the WA coast and consequently only impacted sparsely populated pastoral and mining areas. As the system passed close to the Yarrie mine its translation speed reduced and some 200 workers were locked down for 8 hours in two squash courts as accommodation units were overturned, water tanks "shredded" and power lines cut. Fay appears to have weakened below cyclone strength on Sunday evening (28 March) between Nullagine and Telfer. Cyclone Fay caused extensive flooding and considerable damage. However, no deaths were recorded. Tropical Cyclone Grace Aus Tropical Cyclone Grace 2004.jpg Grace 2004 track.png 20 March 23 March 50 35 985 Grace is mostly remembered for its effects prior to reaching cyclone status rather than during its life as an officially named tropical cyclone. A multi-centred tropical low formed adjacent to the north Queensland tropical coast near Cooktown as early as 20 March within a very active monsoon trough that stretched across the northern Coral Sea and Cape York Peninsula toward New Caledonia, and initially had a subtropical appearance. Over the ensuing days, the northernmost circulation became dominant and moved east to the southeast of the equatorward ridge. By 21/1820 UTC it became the second named tropical cyclone of Queensland's and was named Grace. Grace moved toward the southeast at 15 to 20 kn km/h. This general motion was to continue for the remainder of the cyclone's life. Grace peaked in intensity at 985 hPa with maximum sustained winds of 50 kn km/h near 20.3S/155.9E at 22/0000 UTC. This intensity was maintained for approximately 6 hours. Thereafter, Grace began to undergo extratropical transition with an increasingly asymmetric wind field due to a squeeze with a surface ridge to the south. Grace rapidly lost its entire upper-level structure and was downgraded at 23/1800 UTC from tropical cyclone status when located approximately 400 nmi km east-northeast of Sandy Cape (23.6S/162.3E). The remnant surface wind field of the system meandered to the east and then to the east-northeast over the following days, producing a very broad area of gales to its south through the Tasman Sea. The highest three-day rainfall amounts for Grace was 759 mm from Topaz, which received 372 mm in 24 hours. The strongest winds from the mainland were from Low Isle at 18/1311 UTC when gusts reached 50 kn km/h. Cape Moreton at 21 March 2004 2230 UTC received gusts to 54 kn km/h. Widespread flooding and damage to roads and property along the far north Queensland coast, mainly between Cooktown and Cairns. Winds and waves brought tide levels above the highest tides of the year and this was particularly evident at Cooktown. Floodwaters closed all major roads into Cairns. A large section of one lane of the Captain Cook Highway north of Cairns collapsed after a landslide consisting of nearly 20 metres of rock and boulders the size of cars destroyed the ocean-side road. The scenic coastal highway and link between Cairns and Port Douglas was closed for several days. Residents were evacuated from the Whitfield range area due to landslides. An estimated $20,000,000 (US) damage to the Cairns region is attributed to pre-cyclone Grace. There were no casualties associated with Tropical Cyclone Grace. In New Caledonia, further strong winds, heavy rains and flooding were experienced. A massive oil slick threatened a popular tourist beach in New Caledonia. Officials in the French Pacific territory put up barriers around the island of Amedee, which was threatened by a toxic oil slick, estimated to cover an area of 20 square kilometres. They said the oil had come from a boat wrecked several decades ago on a coral reef off South Province. Severe Tropical Cyclone Oscar–Itseng Aus 21 March 27 March (Exited basin) STC Oscar 26 mar 2004 0735Z.jpg Oscar-Itseng 2004 path.png 90 115 940 Formed on 21 March, moved out of the region on 27 March into South-West Indian Ocean region, renaming to Itseng. Other systems During 20 December, Tropical Disturbance 02F was last noted by the FMS, as it moved into the region from the South Pacific basin about 665 km mi 5 on to the northwest of Honiara in the Solomon Islands.Tropical Disturbance Summary December 20, 2003 23z http://mtarchive.geol.iastate.edu/2003/12/20/text/Severe/Severe.20 Fiji Meteorological Service 9 February 2020 20 December 2003 Tropical Disturbance 04F was first noted by the FMS within a broad area of low pressure during 29 December, while it was located on the border with the South Pacific basin, about 100 km mi 5 on to the south of Honiara in the Solomon Islands.Tropical Disturbance Summary December 29, 2003 06z http://mtarchive.geol.iastate.edu/2003/12/29/text/Severe/Severe.29 Fiji Meteorological Service 9 February 2020 29 December 2003 The system was located in a moderate area of vertical windshear and was poorly organised with atmospheric convection confined to the system's eastern semicircle. The system subsequently moved south-eastwards and remained poorly organised, before it was last noted by the FMS later that day while it was located to the south of San Cristobal Island.Tropical Disturbance Summary December 29, 2003 21z http://mtarchive.geol.iastate.edu/2003/12/29/text/Severe/Severe.29 Fiji Meteorological Service 9 February 2020 29 December 2003 Storm names TCWC Perth Jana Ken Linda Monty Nicky Oscar TCWC Darwin Debbie Evan Fay TCWC Brisbane Fritz Grace Season effects This is a table of all of the storms that have formed in the 2003–04 Australian region cyclone season. It includes their duration, names, landfall(s)–denoted by bold location names – damages, and death totals. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a wave, or a low, and all of the damage figures are in 2004 AUD and USD. |- | Jana || 1206 6–12 December || bgcolor=#A3|Category 3 severe tropical cyclone || bgcolor=#A3|155 155 km/h (100 mph) || bgcolor=#A3|950 hPa inHg 4 on on || None || None || None || |- | Debbie || 1216 16–23 December || bgcolor=#A3|Category 3 severe tropical cyclone || bgcolor=#A3|120 120 km/h (75 mph) || bgcolor=#A3|970 hPa inHg 4 on on || Papua New Guinia, Northern Territory || None || None || |- | 02F || 20041220 20 December 2003 || bgcolor=#DI|Tropical Disturbance || bgcolor=#DI|Not specified || bgcolor=#DI|1000 hPa inHg on 4 off || Solomon Islands || None || None || |- | 04F || 20041229 29 December 2003 || bgcolor=#DI|Tropical Disturbance || bgcolor=#DI|Not specified || bgcolor=#DI|1004 hPa inHg on 4 off || Solomon Islands || None || None || |- | Ken || 0101 1 – 6 January || bgcolor=#TD|Tropical low || bgcolor=#TD|075 75 km/h (45 mph) || bgcolor=#TD|992 hPa inHg 4 on on || Western Australia || None || None || |- | Linda || 20040128 28 January – 1 February 2004 || bgcolor=#A2|Category 2 tropical cyclone || bgcolor=#A2|50 kn km/h mph 5 out on on || bgcolor=#A2|985 hPa inHg 4 on on || None || 0 None || 0 None ||2004 Tropical Cyclone Linda (2004028S06090) 2004028S06090 31 May 2022 International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship |- | Fritz || 0210 10–15 February || bgcolor=#A2|Category 2 tropical cyclone || bgcolor=#A2|50 kn km/h mph 5 out on on || bgcolor=#A2|985 hPa inHg 4 on on || Queensland, Northern Territory || None || None || |- | Monty || 0225 25 February – 3 March || bgcolor=#A4|Category 4 severe tropical cyclone || bgcolor=#A4|185 185 km/h (115 mph) || bgcolor=#A4|935 hPa inHg 4 on on || Western Australia || Minor || None || |- | Evan || 20040227 27 February – 4 March || bgcolor=#TD|Tropical low || bgcolor=#TD|35 kn km/h mph 5 out on on || bgcolor=#TD|991 hPa inHg 4 on on || Northern Australia || 1 Unknown || 1 Unknown ||International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship 2004058S13142 25 May 2022 2004 Tropical Cyclone Evan (2004058S13142) |- | Nicky || 0308 8–10 March || bgcolor=#A2|Category 2 tropical cyclone || bgcolor=#A2|50 kn km/h mph 5 out on on || bgcolor=#A2|985 hPa inHg 4 on on || None || None || None || |- | Fay || 0312 12–28 March || bgcolor=#A5|Category 5 severe tropical cyclone || bgcolor=#A5|215 215 km/h (130 mph) || bgcolor=#A5|910 hPa inHg 4 on on || Northern Territory, Western Australia || Minimal || None || |- | Grace || 0320 20–23 March || bgcolor=#A2|Category 2 tropical cyclone || bgcolor=#A2|50 kn km/h mph 5 out on on || bgcolor=#A2|985 hPa inHg 4 on on || Queensland || $20000000 || None || |- | Oscar || 0321 21–27 March || bgcolor=#A4|Category 4 severe tropical cyclone || bgcolor=#A4|165 165 km/h (105 mph) || bgcolor=#A4|940 hPa inHg 4 on on || None || None || None || |- 11 systems 6 December – 27 March 215 km/h (130 mph) 910 hPa inHg 4 on $20,000,000 0 See also Tropical cyclones Tropical cyclones in 2004 List of Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons Atlantic hurricane seasons 2003, 2004 Pacific hurricane seasons 2003, 2004 Pacific typhoon seasons 2003, 2004 North Indian cyclone season 2003, 2004 References External links Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) https://web.archive.org/web/20100301105349/http://www.usno.navy.mil/JTWC 1 March 2010 . Australian Bureau of Meteorology. World Meteorological Organization 2000 Australian region cyclone yes 2003 yes Category:Australian region cyclone seasons 2003 Aus 2004 Aus