Tropical Climate Update

Severe tropical cyclone Damien impacted Western Australia

Severe tropical cyclone Damien crossed the Western Australia (WA) coast on Saturday 8 February 2020. Damien was the strongest tropical cyclone to cross the WA coast since category 4 TC Christine, in 2013. Damien made a direct hit on the Pilbara town of Karratha, generating an observed peak wind gust of 194 km/h. Peak sustained winds (10-minute mean) at the time of landfall were about 145 km/h, indicating a high-end category 3 strength tropical cyclone.

Moderate damage to infrastructure and widespread vegetation damage was reported. Significant rainfall was observed along the central Pilbara coast, extending inland to the northern Gascoyne District of WA. For the duration of the event, Karratha had the highest total rainfall of 235.2 mm. The highest preliminary daily rainfall observation was 221 mm at Gregory Gorge, east of Pannawonica in the central Pilbara District. Minor flooding was recorded at some local rivers.

Ex-tropical cyclone Damien, which weakened below cyclone intensity on Sunday 9 February, is currently a low pressure system over central Western Australia, and dissipating.

Tropical cyclone over the Coral Sea

Severe tropical cyclone Uesi is located to the northwest of New Caledonia and is forecast to track southwards for the next few days. The current forecast track indicates landfall on New Caledonia is unlikely, but some impacts could be experienced on western parts of the island. In the longer term, Uesi is expected to start weakening from late Wednesday and has a moderate chance of moving into the far eastern Australian region during Thursday. Uesi is unlikely to directly impact the Australian mainland but may generate dangerous surf conditions along the east coast.

Tropical cyclone information for the southwest Pacific region available from the Fiji Meteorological Service.

Tropical cyclone advice for Australia available at the Bureau's Current Tropical Cyclones page.

Madden–Julian Oscillation strengthens over western Pacific region

A pulse of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) has strengthened over the tropical western Pacific Ocean. Climate models indicate it is unlikely to further strengthen in the coming days, with some models predicting the pulse will weaken or become indiscernible within the current week. The presence of this MJO pulse likely assisted the development of Uesi and contributed to enhanced cloudiness and rainfall across the tropical southwest Pacific in recent days. A separate tropical atmospheric wave (Kelvin wave) may act to maintain enhanced convection and rainfall near the Date Line even if the MJO pulse weakens.

Read more about the Madden–Julian Oscillation