Summary
Tropical Cyclone Jim was named at 0000 UTC 28 January when 370 km east of Innisfail and moving further out to sea.
As Jim continued to deepen and move offshore in a general east to east-northeasterly direction, sporadic gale force winds were experienced well to the south of the centre in the Whitsunday Islands region of Queensland. Lihou Reef recorded easterly gales as Jim passed to the north during 28 January.
Jim continued to intensify in a low shear environment and reached hurricane force intensity before moving into the Fiji area of responsibility. This intensity was maintained for a further 24 hours as Jim was moved to the east-southeast at 10 m/s. Jim turned to the southeast, passing approximately 175 km parallel to the north-eastern coastline of New Caledonia and gradually weakened as upper-level shear increased over the cyclone.
Heavy rainfall associated with Jim caused flooding extending from north Queensland, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Fiji.
Track and intensity
All times in UTC - add 10 hours to convert to EST.
