The 1977–78 Australian region cyclone season was a below average

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

season.

Systems

Tropical Cyclone Tom

Tropical Cyclone Sam–Celimene

Severe Tropical Cyclone Trudy

Severe Tropical Cyclone Vern

Cyclone Vern formed on 27 January from one of several low pressure centres within a trough that extended from the

Cocos Islands The Cocos (Keeling) Islands (), officially the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands (; ), are an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, comprising a small archipelago approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka and rel ...

eastward across northern Australia to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. Over the period of a couple days, the strong northwesterly monsoonal flow to the north of the trough interacted with the strengthening easterly winds of a high-pressure area moving into the

Great Australian Bight The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight (geography), bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern Coast, coastline of mainland Australia. There are two definitions for its extent—one by the Internation ...

. As a result, one of the lows rapidly deepening into a tropical cyclone off the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

coast. After initially moving tracking westward out to sea, the storm executed an

anticyclonic A high-pressure area, high, or anticyclone, is an area near the surface of a planet where the atmospheric pressure is greater than the pressure in the surrounding regions. Highs are middle-scale meteorological features that result from interpl ...

loop and proceeded to move eastward. Then, early on 31 January, while located about northwest of Broome, Vern took a sharp turn toward the southeast then south. It continued in that general direction until it made landfall near Anna Plains at about 03:00 GMT, 1 February, with winds of about . Inland, the system tracked southwestward then to the south again, causing flooding and minor damage, before dissipating on 3 February over the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...

Tropical Cyclone Gwen

Severe Tropical Cyclone Winnie

Severe Tropical Cyclone Alby

On 27 March, a tropical depression developed in the eastern Indian Ocean between

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and Australia. It drifted to the southwest, and slowly strengthened into a tropical storm on 29 March. Alby continued slowly southwestward, and attained cyclone status on 30 March. The rate of intensification, which was slower earlier in its life, became more steady towards strengthening, and reached the equivalent of Category 3 status on 1 April. Tropical Cyclone Alby turned more to the south, and quickly reached a peak of later on 1 April. After maintaining its strength for 30 hours, Alby weakened as it turned to the southeast. Its forward momentum increased over the southeast Indian Ocean, and Alby was only an cyclone as it passed off the southwest coast of Australia on 4 April. It continued rapidly to the southeast, and became extra-tropical on 5 April while south of the continent. On 4 April, Tropical Cyclone Alby passed close to the southwest corner of Western Australia, killing five people and causing widespread but mostly minor damage to the southwest. The damage bill was estimated to be $39 million (2003 dollars). A man was blown from the roof of a shed and a woman was killed by a falling pine tree. Another man was killed when a tree fell on the bulldozer he was operating and two men drowned when their dinghy overturned at Albany. Storm surge and destructive waves caused coastal inundation and erosion from

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Busselton Busselton is a city in the South West (Western Australia), South West region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destin ...

, damaging the

Busselton Jetty Busselton Jetty is a jetty located in Busselton, Western Australia. It is the longest timber-piled jetty (pier) in the Southern Hemisphere at long. The jetty is managed by a not-for-profit community organisation, Busselton Jetty Inc. The jetty ...

and Fremantle Harbour. Fires fanned by the strong winds burned an estimated of forest and farming land.

Tropical Cyclone Brenda

Tropical Cyclone Hal

References

Australian region cyclone seasons

Aust Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, about north of Bristol and about south west of Gloucester. It is located on the eastern side of the Severn estuary, close to the eastern end of the Severn Bridge which carries the M48 ...

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