Weather News

Late-season tropical activity

Jacobus Cronje, Sunday April 9, 2017 - 09:42 AEST

With tropical cyclone season soon to wrap up, Australian and nearby tropical waters have seen a surge in cyclone activity late in the season.

Tropical cyclone season officially runs from November to the end of April. Although the six systems thus far constitute twice as many cyclones named in Australian waters than the previous season, it's still well shy of the average 11 systems.

Looking back at recent weeks, Queensland is still reeling after Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie made landfall at the end of March, and effects are still being felt in that state and the northeastern parts of New South Wales.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Ernie is currently situated to the northwest of Western Australia, and is beginning to weaken as it tracks away from the country. Fortunately for residents of the northwestern parts, the system has had very little impact on the region.

Another tropical low pressure system has formed in the Arafura Sea, and is likely to strengthen early next week as it moves into the Timor Sea. It remains to be seen if the system will manage to reach tropical cyclone intensity, or if it would affect mainland Australia in any significant way.

Looking further afield, tropical cyclone Cook has formed to the northeast of New Caledonia, and will likely intensify in coming days before making landfall over the island late Monday or early Tuesday.

- Weatherzone

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