A tropical cyclone advice / warning has been issued for the central Queensland Coast centred on the region near Townsville. A tropical low is developing and may develop into a category 1 tropical cyclone by later in the day before making landfall. Heavy rainfall and winds of about 120km/h are possible as the tropical low makes landfall and ventures inland.
This may be some of the best news for drought stricken regions of central Queensland with probably the best rainfall in one year for most!
More information and latest warnings can be found on the Bureau of Meteorology and Australian Severe Weather Cyclones page.
Matthew Piper must have had a sleepless night? He is in the path of this possible developing tropical cyclone that should be named Dylan if it develops.
The city of Mackay and Townsville if I am not mistaken have low lying areas that given a significant tropical cyclone can be in some trouble of flooding from larger storm surges. Comments?
Tropical Cyclone Dylan has officially been named at Category 1 off the Central Queensland coast.
Turned out to be a Category 2 system before making landfall as Matthew Piper suggested.
Anyone follow the maximum wind gusts from some of the stations closer to be strongest part of the tropical cyclone?
The strongest winds near the centre of Cyclone Dylan were recorded at Flinders Reef at 6:30pm yesterday. It was near the northern eye wall at the time and had sustained winds of 106 gusting to 135 km/h.
I have certainly had quite a few sleepless nights lately catching up on the latest radar and satellite imagery and trying to figure out where this cyclone was headed. When the forecast winds were upped to 150 km/h yesterday I must admit to having a feeling of dread come on knowing that this may potentially move over me.
Townsville has a lot of low lying areas near the CBD which are prone to flooding by king tides let alone storm tides. There are also quite a few other areas around town which can be affected by larger storm surges. The storm surge flood maps available on the Townsville council website are very informative about where flooding may occur.