Summary
A low formed approximately 680 kilometres (km) to the northeast of Broome on 27 January and initially tracked steadily southwards before moving to the south southeast. The low reached tropical cyclone intensity at 0600 Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) (1400 Australian Western Standard Time (AWST) =UTC+8 hours) 29 January when it was located about 310 km to the north of Port Hedland. As the vertical wind shear decreased Stan intensified and reached a peak ten minute wind intensity of 55 knots (kn) (102 kilometres per hour (km/h)) at 0600 UTC 30 January. Tropical Cyclone Stan crossed the coast between Port Hedland and Wallal about 30 km to the east of Pardoo at around 1800 UTC 30 January. As the cyclone crossed the coast near the time of high tide, the associated storm tide would have resulted in inundation of low-lying coastal areas to the east of the crossing location, but no data is available. The cyclone weakened quickly as it moved southwards over the Pilbara, further inland.
Heavy rainfall associated with TC Stan was recorded in the Gascoyne River, Fortescue River and the De Grey River catchments. The highest 24 hour rainfall was recorded at Nullagine with a total of 97millimetres (mm), 50 mm of this was recorded within 1 hour. This heavy rainfall resulted in moderate to major flooding in the upper areas of the De Grey River catchment including the Oakover River, the Coongan River and the Nullagine River.
Five people were rescued from a vehicle stranded in a creek crossing on the Hardy River Road south of Roebourne. The town of Nullagine was divided in two as a result of river level rises. Two vehicles and their occupants were washed off a causeway at Nullagine and subsequently rescued by boat. People were rescued from a vehicle stranded in a floodway near Paraburdoo. There was no major damage to homes or other infrastructure due to the community being well prepared.
For more information see the TC Stan Report (pdf).
Track and Intensity
