User:ChocolateTrain/Cyclone Wallace
A tropical cyclone which brought minor impacts to isolated parts of Australia and Indonesia in 2019. / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Severe Tropical Cyclone Wallace was a late-season tropical cyclone of moderate intensity which brought mild impacts to isolated parts of Australia and Indonesia. The ninth named tropical cyclone and sixth severe tropical cyclone of the 2018-19 Australian region cyclone season, Severe Tropical Cyclone Wallace originated from a weak tropical low which first appeared on 1 April 2019 over the Arafura Sea, a few hundred kilometres to the northeast of Darwin.[1] The system was slow to develop initially, but began to intensify as it moved generally southwestwards away from the Arafura Sea, where it had meandered for several days. The tropical low reached cyclone intensity by 18:00 UTC on 5 April while passing between Timor and the Kimberley region of Western Australia.[2][3] The system continued to strengthen as it moved through the western Timor Sea and into the Indian Ocean, albeit at a much slower rate than is typical for tropical cyclones, largely the result of high vertical wind shear. At 18:00 UTC on 8 April, the system strengthened into a severe tropical cyclone while located well to the northwest of Western Australia's Pilbara coastline. This coincided with the system's peak in intensity, characterised by sustained winds of 120 km/h (75 mph) and a minimum central barometric pressure of 980 hPa (28.94 inHg).[4] The system was assessed as a low-end Category 3 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian scale by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and was equivalent to a minimal Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale according to wind speed estimates from the United States' Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The storm weakened steadily thereafter in a generally unfavourable environment, falling below tropical cyclone status by 10 April.[5] The remnant tropical low dissipated to the southwest of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands by 16 April.
Category 3 severe tropical cyclone (Aus scale) | |
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Category 1 tropical cyclone (SSHWS) | |
![]() Tropical Cyclone Wallace intensifying to the northwest of Western Australia on 8 April 2019 at Category 2 on the Australian scale | |
Formed | 1 April 2019 |
Dissipated | 16 April 2019 |
(Remnant low after 10 April 2019) | |
Highest winds | 10-minute sustained: 120 km/h (75 mph) 1-minute sustained: 120 km/h (75 mph) Gusts: 165 km/h (105 mph) |
Lowest pressure | 980 hPa (mbar); 28.94 inHg |
Fatalities | None |
Damage | None |
Areas affected | Eastern Indonesia Northern Territory East Timor Western Australia Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
Part of the 2018–19 Australian region cyclone season | |
Although Severe Tropical Cyclone Wallace was located well out to sea during its period of strongest winds, the system brought mild impacts to localised regions of Australia and Indonesia while intensifying early in its lifetime. In particular, Browse Island, off the coast of Western Australian, experienced sustained gale-force winds equivalent to Category 1 strength on the Australian scale for a short period on 6 April.[6] Croker Island, located 230 km (145 mi) northeast of Darwin,[7] recorded 159.0 mm (6.3 in) of rainfall over a 48-hour period as the storm passed nearby as a tropical low.[8] No injuries or fatalities are known to have been caused by the cyclone, either directly or indirectly, and no infrastructural or economic damage has been attributed to the storm.