Summary
Tropical Cyclone Raquel was an out of season cyclone that briefly formed near the Solomon Islands.
A near-record strength pulse in the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) lead to a period of significant weather across much of the western Pacific Ocean during late June and early July. A tropical low formed to the northeast of the Solomon Islands in late June and tracked southwest towards the Solomon Islands before forming into a rare winter southern hemisphere tropical cyclone, named Raquel, on 1 July.
Raquel only lasted for a day as a tropical cyclone, before weakening to a tropical low to the north of the Solomon Islands on 2 July. Raquel threatened to reform over the following days, but failed to do so, mainly due to the presence of strong vertical wind shear.
The system moved across the Solomon Islands as a tropical low between 3-5 July, delivering heavy rain and damaging wind gusts to some provinces. Munda (Western Province of the Solomon Islands) recorded a daily rainfall total of 282 mm on 5 July. There were reports by the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation of a landslide in the Western Province and some homes lost or damaged in the Western and Malaita Provinces.
Raquel was the first recorded tropical cyclone to form in Australia's Eastern Region in July (since at least 1970).
Track and Intensity (Time in UTC (AEST-10h))
