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Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry

Queensland Regional Office

Summary

Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry crossed the tropical north Queensland coast near Innisfail during the morning of Monday 20 March 2006. Fortunately, no lives were lost and no serious injuries were reported. However, between Babinda and Tully, damage to infrastructure and crops was extensive with the total estimated loss upwards of half a billion dollars. To a somewhat lesser extent, damage also occurred in areas north to Cairns, south to Cardwell and on the Atherton Tablelands. .

A report on Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry is available for download in pdf format.

Track

Larry developed from a low pressure system over the eastern Coral Sea. The low became noticeable on Thursday 16 March and was then closely monitored by the Bureau of Meteorology. It developed into a tropical cyclone during the early hours of Saturday 18 March, and proceeded on a general westerly course towards the Queensland coast. Late in the morning of 18 March, Larry was classified as a severe Category 3 cyclone and continued to intensify to a marginal Category 5 cyclone as it approached the Queensland coast.

The eye of the cyclone made landfall near Innisfail around daybreak on Monday 20 March. Wind gusts were later estimated to have been up to 240 km/h (Category 4) in the area surveyed. A marked variation in wind gusts was observed, both in a spatial sense and across elevated terrain. This was clearly evidenced by varying levels of damage across relatively small distances. Larry began to weaken as it moved onto the Atherton Tablelands but did maintain cyclone strength into the early hours of Tuesday 21 March

Impact

Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry was the first severe tropical cyclone to cross near a populated section of the east coast of Queensland since Rona in 1999, and the effects of the winds on buildings were devastating. Townships affected by the northern and southern portions of the eye wall of the cyclone received the most damage, particularly Babinda, Innisfail and Silkwood, however all townships in the region were severely affected by the cyclone.

Electricity transmission to the areas in the region (as well as Cairns) was severely disrupted. Road and rail access to the region was also disrupted for several days due to flooding. In the northwest of the state, heavy rainfall from ex-Tropical Cyclone Larry caused several townships to be isolated for several days due to flooding. Food drops were required.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry caused a significant storm surge. The largest recorded surge was 2.30 metres at Clump Point. Cardwell and Mourilyan recorded storm surges of 1.76 metres and 1.34 metres respectively. Unfortunately no gauges were located at the site of the maximum onshore winds, so the highest storm surge associated with Larry was not sampled. However, the highest inundation recorded was a very substantial 4.9 metres above the expected tide at Bingil Bay, and 4.2 metres at Etty Bay. There was no evidence of significant waves in the main impact area, indicating that the majority of the inundation was produced by the storm surge. Storm surge data was provided by the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in the publication “Fact Sheet Tropical Cyclone Larry”, FS 2006-03 Updated 30/03/2006.

Rainfall associated with Larry resulted in flooding in the Mulgrave, Russell, Tully and Murray Rivers on the north tropical coast and in the Gulf Rivers. Road and rail access was disrupted for several days due to flooding and, at times, prevented road access to the Babinda-Innisfail area from both the north and south. Fortunately, the river rises in the Johnstone River at Innisfail remained below minor flood level.

Rapid river rises occurred in the Mulgrave and Russell Rivers on 20 March following heavy rainfall. The highest rainfall total recorded was 139mm in 3 hours to 9am at The Boulders on Babinda Creek. Major flooding occurred in the Mulgrave River during the day with the river level at Gordonvale peaking at 15.2 metes, which was one metre over the Bruce Highway bridge.

The heaviest rainfall in the Tully River catchment was over 500 mm recorded at Euramo, near Tully, in the 72 hours to 9am 22 March. River levels rose slowly in both the Tully and Murray Rivers and major flood levels overtopped the Bruce Highway from 21 to 24 March.

As Larry moved westwards into the Gulf Country, very heavy rain was reported in the Flinders and Leichhardt River in the 24 hours to 9am Wednesday 22 March, with the highest total of 435 mm recorded at Gereta Station. Peak flood levels reached in the Leichhardt River during the week were the highest in thirty to forty years.

Images of the flooding in the northwest of the state can be seen at the NASA Earth Observatory web site.

Observations Summary

Pressure and wind data from Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) provided invaluable information during the passage of Larry. Data from the Flinders Reef AWS assisted with the tracking of Larry on Sunday 19 March. The closest official instrumented observation site, to the coastal crossing, was the Bureau of Meteorology's AWS at South Johnstone. The highest wind gust measured at this site was 181 km/h (98 knots) at 6.33am and 6.38am on Monday 20 March, whilst the lowest reported pressure was 959.3 hPa at 6.56am on Monday 20 March. However, this was not the highest wind speed to occur in the impact area, and verified reports of lower pressures were also obtained closer to the coast.

The table below lists maximum measured wind gusts associated with Larry. Bellenden Ker Tower (CSIRO) and Ravenshoe Wind Farm (Stanwell Corporation) are not official Bureau of Meteorology observation sites, and as such, the values measured at these two locations are not counted as official data.

Location	Maximum Measured Wind Gust (km/h)	Time of Observation (AEST)
19 March 2006
Flinders Reef	211	9.10 pm
Hamilton Island Airport	98	10.58 pm
20 March 2006
Alva Beach	80	5.31 am
Lucinda	109	5.32 am
South Johnstone	181	6.33 am
Green Island	109	7:04 am
Bellenden Ker Tower (elevation ~ 1450 m)	294	7.18 am
Cairns Airport	107	8.01 am
Mareeba	113	8.39 am
Ravenshoe Wind Farm	187	8.40 am


South Johnstone AWS (2002) Click image to enlarge (41 KB)	South Johnstone AWS 21/03/06 Click image to enlarge (81 KB)	Map of observation sites Click image for current observations	Google-Earth image with placenames Click image to enlarge (119 KB)

Rainfall

Rainfall associated with Larry is summarised in the tables below.

24 hours to 9am 20 March 2006
273mm - Mourilyan Mill Alert (Johnstone River catchment) 230mm - Babinda (Mulgrave-Russell catchment) 230mm - Saltwater Creek Alert (Johnstone River catchment) 220mm - Bulgun Creek Alert (Tully River catchment) 213mm - The Boulders (Mulgrave-Russell catchment) 212mm - Jarra Creek Alert (Tully River catchment) 190mm - Sutties Creek Alert (Johnstone River catchment)	Rainfall to 9am 20 March 2006 AEST Click to enlarge (16 KB)
24 hours to 9am 21 March 2006
169mm - Paluma Dam Alert (Upper Burdekin River) 149mm - Abergowrie Bridge Alert (Herbert River d/s Glen Eagle) 140mm - Elphinstone Pkt (Herbert River d/s Glen Eagle) 128mm - Bilyana Alert (Tully River catchment) 127mm - Bolinda Estate Alert (Tully River catchment) 121mm - Euramo Alert (Tully River catchment) 110mm - Koombooloomba Dam Alert (Tully River catchment)	Rainfall to 9am 21 March 2006 AEST Click to enlarge (18 KB)
24 hours to 9am 22 March 2006
436mm - Gereta Station (Leichhardt River catchment) 279mm - Kamilaroi (Leichhardt River catchment) 230mm - Gunpowder (Leichhardt River catchment) 301mm - Sweeney Creek U/S Alert (Johnstone River catchment) 284mm - Bulgun CReek Alert (Tully River catchment) 289mm - Innisfail (Johnstone River catchment) 285mm - Murray Flats Alert (Tully River catchment) 275mm - Innisfail Wharf Alert (Johnstone River catchment) 258mm - Tung Oil Alert (Johnstone River catchment) 258mm - Euramo Alert (Tully River catchment) 248mm - Marco Street Alert (Johnstone River catchment) 240mm - Bilyana Alert (Tully River catchment) 237mm - Nerada Alert (Johnstone River catchment) 228mm - Corsis Alert (Johnstone River catchment) 225mm - Upper Murray Alert (Tully River catchment) 223mm - Tully Alert (Tully River catchment) 221mm - Tully Sugar Mill (Tully River catchment) 217mm - Jarra Creek Alert (Tully River catchment) 215mm - Cardwell (Tully River catchment) 206mm - Central Mill (Johnstone River catchment) 201mm - Bartle View Alert (Johnstone River catchment) 192mm - Topaz Alert (Johnstone River catchment)	Rainfall to 9am 22 March 2006 AEST Click to enlarge (22 KB)
24 hours to 9am 23 March 2006
149mm - Kamilaroi (Leichhardt River catchment) 147mm - Gereta Station (Leichhardt River catchment) 100mm - Nardoo (Leichhardt River catchment)	Rainfall to 9am 23 March 2006 AEST Click to enlarge (21 KB)

Satellite Imagery

Images from MTSAT-1R satellite received and processed by Bureau of Meteorology courtesy of Japan Meteorological Agency.

Australia, 20/03/06, 6:30am AEST (infra-red) Click to enlarge (1086 KB)	Queensland, 20/03/06, 7:30am AEST (infra-red) Click to enlarge (1014 KB)	Innisfail area, 20/03/06, 6.30am AEST (Visible) Click to enlarge (84 KB)*

*this image courtesy of University of Wisconsin (USA).

Radar Imagery

Cairns Airport 20/03/06, 6:20am AEST Click image to enlarge (33 KB)	Townsville(Mt Stuart) 20/03/06, 6:20am AEST Click image to enlarge (35 KB)	Multi-radar mosaic movie-loop 19/03/06 11.10am-20/03/06 10.20am Click image to open (5 MB)

Impact Photos
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Last updated - March 2007

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