The 1987–88 Australian region cyclone season was the one of least active Australian region tropical cyclone seasons on record. It officially started on 1 November 1987, and officially ended on 30 April 1988. The regional tropical cyclone operational plan defines a "tropical cyclone year" separately from a "tropical cyclone season"; the "tropical cyclone year" began on 1 July 1987 and ended on 30 June 1988.

Seasonal summary

ImageSize = width:800 height:195 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:270 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/12/1987 till:31/05/1988 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/12/1987 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:TL value:rgb(0.43,0.76,0.92) legend:Tropical_Low_=_<63_km/h_(<39_mph) id:C1 value:rgb(0.3,1,1) legend:Category_1_=_63–88_km/h_(39-55_mph) id:C2 value:rgb(0.75,1,0.75) legend:Category_2_=_89–117_km/h_(55-73_mph) id:C3 value:rgb(1,0.85,0.55) legend:Category_3_=_118–159_km/h_(73-99_mph) id:C4 value:rgb(1,0.45,0.54) legend:Category_4_=_160–199_km/h_(99-124_mph) id:C5 value:rgb(0.55,0.46,0.9) legend:Category_5_=_≥200_km/h_(≥124_mph) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:11 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:06/12/1987 till:09/12/1987 color:TL text:"Ariny (TL)" from:06/01/1988 till:14/01/1988 color:C2 text:"Agi (C2)" from:28/01/1988 till:02/02/1988 color:C3 text:"Frederic (C3)" from:06/02/1988 till:12/02/1988 color:C4 text:"Gwenda-Ezenina (C4)" from:19/02/1988 till:01/03/1988 color:C3 text:"Charlie (C3)" from:17/05/1988 till:20/05/1988 color:C1 text:" Herbie (C1)" bar:Month width:6 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/12/1987 till:31/12/1987 text:December from:01/01/1988 till:31/01/1988 text:January from:01/02/1988 till:28/02/1988 text:February from:01/03/1988 till:31/03/1988 text:March from:01/04/1988 till:30/04/1988 text:April from:01/05/1988 till:31/05/1988 text:May TextData = pos:(569,23) text:"(For further details, please see" pos:(713,23) text:" scales)"

Systems

Tropical Low Ariny

Tropical Cyclone Agi

Cyclone Agi veered away from the main islands of Papua New Guinea's Milne Bay province after flattening many buildings, uprooting trees and disrupting water supplies. Agi brought heavy rain, high tides and winds gusting at more than 100 km/h to the remote islands it brushed at the eastern tip of the PNG mainland since it formed and began to swirl through the area on Sunday.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Frederic

Frederic, 28 January to 2 February 1988, Indian Ocean

Severe Tropical Cyclone Gwenda-Ezenina

Gwenda-Ezenina, 6 to 12 February 1988, Indian Ocean

Severe Tropical Cyclone Charlie

Early on 21 February, a tropical low formed over the Coral Sea. The system was upgraded to a tropical cyclone at 18:00 UTC on 22 February, given the name ''Charlie''. Charlie continued to strengthen for around a day while turning towards the south, however began to weaken soon after. Following a period of slight weakening, Charlie maintained its intensity and slowly moved towards the west. Early on 27 February, Charlie began to intensify once again, continuing its westerly movement until 36 hours later, when it turned towards the south. Charlie made its first landfall near Cape Bowling Green and reached its peak intensity as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone during 29 February and later made its second landfall, in Upstart Bay. The cyclone weakened rapidly over land and dissipated on 1 March. As Charlie made landfall in a sparsely populated area, structural damage was minimal, however significant crop damage occurred, amounting to $15 million (1990 AUD).

Tropical Cyclone Herbie

Herbie, 17 to 20 May 1988, Indian Ocean

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1987-88 Australian region cyclone season Australian region cyclone seasons Articles which contain graphical timelines Tropical cyclones in 1987 Tropical cyclones in 1988