Summary
Tropical Cyclone Alessia was a small tropical cyclone that reached category 1 intensity in two stages, the first off the north Kimberley coast and then several days later in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria.
A low became evident in the tropics south of the Indonesian islands early on 20 November. The system moved steadily east southeast and slowly developed. Alessia reached cyclone strength at 0800 AWST (0000 UTC) 22 November when it was located about 500 km northwest of Broome. Alessia tracked to the east passing close to the northern Kimberley coastline near Kalumburu. By this stage the cloud structure began to weaken and Alessia fell below cyclone intensity at 0800 AWST (0000 UTC) 24 December in the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf prior to crossing the Northern Territory coast south of Darwin.
The low continued to track east over the Northern Territory emerging into the Gulf of Carpentaria on 26 November. It intensified once more to tropical cyclone intensity on 27 November before crossing the southern Gulf region in a sparsely populated area about 130 km east of Borroloola and 70 km northwest of the Queensland border.
TC Alessia was a very small tropical cyclone and had minimal wind impact. Cumulative rainfall totals exceeded 100 mm across parts of the Northern Territory.
TC Alessia was the first November tropical cyclone to affect Western Australia since TC Annika in 2008 and the first November tropical cyclone to affect the Northern Territory since TC Joan in 1975.
For more information see the TC Alessia Report (pdf).
Track and Intensity
