The 2009–10 Australian region cyclone season was a below average tropical cyclone season, with eight tropical cyclones forming compared to an average of 12. The season began on 1 November 2009 and ran through until it end on 30 April 2010. The Australian region is defined as being to south of the equator, between the 90th meridian east and 160th meridian east. Tropical cyclones in this area are monitored by five Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWC's): Jakarta, Port Moresby, Perth, Darwin, and Brisbane, each of which have the power to name a tropical cyclone. The TCWC's in Perth, Darwin, and Brisbane are run by the

Australian Bureau of Meteorology Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

, who designate significant tropical lows with a number and the U suffix. The

Joint Typhoon Warning Center The Joint typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, So ...

also issues unofficial warnings for the region, designating significant tropical cyclones with the "S" suffix when they form west of 135°E, and the "P" suffix when they form east of 135°E. Torrential rains produced by Tropical Cyclones Olga and Paul resulted in widespread flooding and damage in northern Australia. The combined losses from these storms reached A$508 million (US$500 million).

Seasonal forecasts

Bureau of Meteorology

For the first time this season, the Bureau of Meteorology's National Climate Center (NCC), issued a seasonal forecast for the whole basin between 90°E and 160°E and included forecasts for TCWC Jakarta and Port Moresby's area of responsibility. The NCC issued four separate forecasts, one for the whole basin and three for the subregions Western Northern and Eastern with each one covering the whole tropical cyclone year. For the whole region the NCC forecast that 7–13 tropical cyclones would develop or move into the region, compared with an average of 12 tropical cyclones. For the Western region, which the NCC defined as being between 90°E and 125°E, they forecast that 5–8 tropical cyclones would develop or move into the region compared to an average of seven. For the Northern region which the NCC defined as being between 125°E and 142.5°E, they forecast that 3–4 tropical cyclones would develop and/or move through the region compared to an average of four. However they also noted that the model used for predicting cyclones in this area had a "low skill." For the Eastern region which the NCC defined as being between 142.5°E and 160°E, they reported that 3–4 tropical cyclones would also develop and/or move through the region compared to an average of four.

City University of Hong Kong

For the first time, the Guy Carpenter Asia-Pacific Climate Impact Centre (GCACIC), of the

City University of Hong Kong City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is a world-class public research university located in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. Currently, CityU is ...

(CityUHK), have issued a forecasts of tropical cyclone activity for the cyclone season. A forecast predicting how many tropical cyclones there will be within the Australian region as a whole and for the western part of the basin between 90°E and 135°E, was released in November. For this season, the GCACIC predicted that the region as a whole would see activity, near the average, predicting that 8 tropical cyclones will be in the region, with 5 of them within the western part of the region.

Forecast verification

Season summary

ImageSize = width:800 height:210 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:01/12/2009 till:01/05/2010 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/12/2009 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:TL value:rgb(0.38,0.73,1) legend:Tropical_Low_=_<63_km/h_(<39_mph) id:C1 value:rgb(0,0.98,0.96) legend:Category_1_=_63-87_km/h_(39-54_mph) id:C2 value:rgb(0.80,1,1) legend:Category_2_=_88-142_km/h_(55-74_mph) id:C3 value:rgb(1,1,0.80) legend:Category_3_=_143-158-km/h_(75-98_mph) id:C4 value:rgb(1,0.76,0.25) legend:Category_4_=_159-204_km/h_(99-127_mph) id:C5 value:rgb(1,0.38,0.38) legend:Category_5_=_≥205_km/h_(≥128_mph) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:11 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:08/12/2009 till:23/12/2009 color:C5 text:" Laurence (C5)" from:27/12/2009 till:06/01/2010 color:TL text:"02U (TL)" from:31/12/2009 till:04/01/2010 color:TL text:"Edzani (TL)" from:14/01/2010 till:20/01/2010 color:TL text:"04U (TL)" from:15/01/2010 till:23/01/2010 color:C1 text:"Neville (C1)" from:19/01/2010 till:22/01/2010 color:C3 text:" Magda (C3)" from:20/01/2010 till:30/01/2010 color:C2 text:"Olga (C2)" barset:break from:22/02/2010 till:24/02/2010 color:TL text:"08U (TL)" from:14/03/2010 till:20/03/2010 color:C4 text:" Ului (C4)" from:22/03/2010 till:23/03/2010 color:TL text:"Imani (TL)" from:23/03/2010 till:01/04/2010 color:C3 text:"Paul (C3)" from:02/04/2010 till:07/04/2010 color:C2 text:"Robyn (C2)" from:21/04/2010 till:28/04/2010 color:C2 text:"Sean (C2)" bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/12/2009 till:01/01/2010 text:December from:01/01/2010 till:01/02/2010 text:January from:01/02/2010 till:01/03/2010 text:February from:01/03/2010 till:01/04/2010 text:March from:01/04/2010 till:01/05/2010 text:April TextData = pos:(569,23) text:"(For further details, please see" pos:(713,23) text:"

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number w ...

Systems

Severe Tropical Cyclone Laurence

On 8 December, TCWC Darwin reported that a tropical low-pressure system had formed near the south coast of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. As the system moved west north of the Top End on 10 December, TCWC Darwin issued a Tropical Cyclone Watch for coastal areas from

Croker Island Croker Island is an island in the Arafura Sea off the coast of the Northern Territory, Australia, northeast of Darwin. It was the site of the Croker Island Mission between 1940 and 1968. Indigenous peoples At the earliest time of European co ...

to Bathurst Island but excluding Darwin . Later that day, TCWC Perth cancelled all previous warnings and issued new watches for Kalumburu, south to Wyndham and west to

Mitchell Plateau Mitchell River National Park is a national park in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, northeast of Perth. The park adjoins the northern boundary of the Prince Regent National Park. The nearest towns are Derby, to the southwest, as wel ...

. The system hovered in the same general region for a day, before strengthening into a category one cyclone, and was named by the TCWC Darwin as Tropical Cyclone Laurence. During the morning of 15 December, the cyclone strengthened into a category 2 cyclone before strengthening further into a category 3 system. In the early hours of 16 December, Severe Tropical Cyclone Laurence was upgraded to a strong category 4 with an eye starting to develop; later developing into a category 5 system. The cyclone crossed the Kimberley coast southeast of Cockatoo Island on 16 December and passed near

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

. On 17 December the cyclone weakened as it meandered over land dumping heavy rain over northern Kimberley. The cyclone's track during the day veered south-west and re-intensification was likely by 18 December as it moved over warm waters. As predicted, Laurence restrengthened into a tropical cyclone after emerging over open waters. Later on 19 December, Laurence intensified further into a category 2 cyclone. On 20 December, Laurence intensified into a category 3 cyclone, and while continuing to turn to the south, it intensified to a category 4 cyclone on the morning of 21 December. Later that morning, Laurence further intensified into a category 5 cyclone, with Red Alerts issued for towns from Pardoo to Sandfire, and inland to Yarrie being advised to seek shelter immediately. Later that afternoon, Laurence made landfall as a severe category 5 cyclone, and was downgraded to a category 4 cyclone as it made landfall. There were reports of livestock deaths, flash flooding and damage to several homes caused by the cyclone, however, no loss of life was reported. On 22 December, Laurence was downgraded to a category 2 cyclone and then further downgraded to a category 1 cyclone later that day. On 23 December, Laurence was downgraded to a tropical low, as it continued to travel south. The cyclone's maximum wind gusts were reported to be 285 km/h.

Tropical Low 02U

A Tropical Low formed just north of Australia on 27 December. Tropical Low 02U moved into the Timor Sea on 3 January and a Cyclone watch was declared for Kalumburu to Cape Don, including the capital of the Northern Territory, Darwin. On 4 January, the low strengthened in the

Joseph Bonaparte Gulf Joseph Bonaparte Gulf is a large body of water off the coast of the Northern Territory and Western Australia and part of the Timor Sea. It was named after Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon and King of Naples (1806-1808) and then Spain (1808 ...

. By 5 January the Tropical Low was located in the western Victoria River District and affecting the area with heavy rain and wind gusts of up to .

Tropical Low 03U (Edzani)

Tropical Low 03U developed near 9.6S, 94.4E, to the west of Indonesia and Malaysia, reported as 350 km northwest of the

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. It was expected to intensify into a Tropical Cyclone within the next 48 hours, but did not reach Tropical Cyclone intensity. On 4 January, the tropical low moved west of 90E out of Australian area of responsibility, and it was later named ''Edzani'' by RSMC La Réunion and eventually strengthened into a very intense tropical cyclone.

Tropical Low 04U

The monsoon trough strengthened over northern Australia, and a tropical low developed off the Pilbara coast on 14 January. Shipping warnings were issued for this system but vertical wind shear prevented the system from intensifying into a Tropical Cyclone.

Tropical Cyclone Neville

An undesignated tropical low formed in Darwin's Area of Responsibility, near 11.9ºS 138.5ºE located in the northern

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary i ...

. On 16 January, the tropical low was designated officially as 05U as it was expected to intensify and move eastward across the gulf. The system did not develop further before it crossed the

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

on 18 January, but after emerging over the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

it strengthened and was named Tropical Cyclone Neville on 20 January. It was downgraded to a tropical low later in the day. The low remained slow moving off the coast of Queensland until the 23rd, when it commenced an eastward motion, and then dissipated on the 24th.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Magda

On 19 January TCWC Perth and Darwin both reported that a Tropical Low had formed south of

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, ...

close to the boundary of their respective areas of responsibility. Shortly after this TCWC Perth issued the designation 06U. It strengthened as it moved southwards, and was designated Tropical Cyclone Magda on 20 January. It made landfall near Kuri Bay late on 21 January as a category three cyclone. Post-storm analysis upgraded Magda to a category three severe tropical cyclone.

Tropical Cyclone Olga

On 20 January, RSMC Nadi and TCWC Brisbane reported that Tropical Depression 04F had moved into the region from the east and was re-designated as Tropical Low 07U. Late on 22 January, 07U had strengthened into a category one cyclone, and was named by TCWC Brisbane as Tropical Cyclone Olga. By 23 January the cyclone had strengthened into a category two cyclone. On 24 January had weakened significantly was downgraded to a tropical low as it remained near stationary off

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

. By 26 January the tropical low had crossed the lower Cape York Peninsula and was south of the

. Warnings were issued for the coastal areas between

Burketown Burketown is an isolated outback town and coastal locality in the Shire of Burke, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Burketown had a population of 238 people. It is located west of Cairns and west of Normanton on the Albert R ...

and Booroloola. On 28 January Olga was predicted to move offshore and enter the south-western Gulf of Carpentaria and possibly restrengthen into a tropical cyclone again, possibly strengthening to a category three in the southeastern part of the Gulf. A separate outburst of convection developed south of Darwin and tracked northeast toward the

Timor Sea The Timor Sea ( id, Laut Timor, pt, Mar de Timor, tet, Tasi Mane or ) is a relatively shallow sea bounded to the north by the island of Timor, to the east by the Arafura Sea, and to the south by Australia. The sea contains a number of reefs ...

on 28 January. On 29 January, Olga had restrengthened into a category 1 tropical cyclone. Finally, Olga degenerated to a tropical low the next day. The remnants of ex-tropical cyclone Olga then slowly moved south over the next week and merged with a monsoon trough to produce widespread heavy rainfall across Queensland and New South Wales, helping to ease short-term rainfall deficits over these areas. Olga killed 2 children from New Zealand Camp east of Honiara on the Solomon Islands before it became a cyclone.

Tropical Low 08U

During the February of the last decade, TCWC Darwin reported a tropical low 08U moving over the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

and Western Queensland. It dissipated on 24 February.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Ului

On 11 March, TCWC Brisbane started to issue warnings on Tropical Depression 13F and designated it as Tropical low 09U. The depression became Cyclone Ului, category 5 in the Pacific basin, but weakened to category 4 shortly after crossing the 160°E meridian. Ului was predicted to restrengthen back into a category 5 as it moved away from an upper-level low and Severe Tropical Cyclone Tomas, however Ului remained as a category 4 and had weakened to a category 3 system in the early hours of 18 March and on the 19 to a category 2, but was expected to restrengthen. As expected, Cyclone Ului became category 3 Severe Tropical Cyclone Ului on 20 March, and maintained its intensity until making landfall near

Airlie Beach, Queensland Airlie Beach is a coastal locality in the Whitsunday Region of Queensland, Australia. In the , Airlie Beach had a population of 1,208 people. Geography Airlie Beach is one of many departure points for the Great Barrier Reef. Cruise ships vi ...

on the fourth anniversary of Cyclone Larry's landfall on Queensland.

Tropical Low 10U (Imani)

On 22 March, TCWC Perth assigned the designation of 10U to a developing tropical low which was located just inside the southwestern Indian Ocean. Six hours later the RSMC Réunion reported that a tropical disturbance had developed near 10.9° S / 89.9° E in the north-eastern corner of its area of responsibility. The system stayed west of 90° E and drifted slowly to the southwest and intensified as the RSMC La Réunion took primary forecasting responsibility for the system. There the Mauritius Meteorological Service named the system as Moderate Tropical Storm Imani on 24 March.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Paul

On 23 March TCWC Darwin reported that a tropical low had formed in the

Arafura Sea The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea) lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea. Geography The Arafura S ...

. On 27 March, Darwin reported that it had strengthened into Tropical Cyclone Paul and was moving southward parallel to the coast in north-east

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...

in the

. On 28 March the system had stalled and was nearly stationary in the vicinity of Cape Shield. By 29 March the tropical cyclone had strengthened to a Category 2 cyclone. Later that evening the tropical system made landfall just south of Cape Shield. Over land the tropical system weakened and by afternoon on 30 March was downgraded to a tropical low. Late on 31 March, after meandering over Arnhem Land the tropical system re-entered the

. Tropical Cyclone Paul inundated the region with heavy rainfall.

Groote Eylandt Groote Eylandt ( Anindilyakwa: ''Ayangkidarrba'' meaning "island" ) is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fourth largest island in Australia. It was named by the explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and is Dutch for "Large Island" i ...

had reported 40 hours of non stop rain with close areas reporting over 280mm of precipitation. Bulman received 442mm in the same period. Northern Territory Chief Minister

Paul Henderson Paul Garnet Henderson, (born January 28, 1943) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A left winger, Henderson played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Fla ...

declared an emergency with plans for food drops and evacuations in parts of East Arnhem Land. Even though the system lost its strength it continued to produce vast rainfall totals. Up until 9am on 1 April 160mm fell at McArthur River Mine, their highest daily total in seven years.

Borroloola Borroloola ( local Aboriginal languages: ''Burrulula'') is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located on the McArthur River, about 50 km upstream from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Location Borroloola lies on the traditional ...

's 185mm in the same period was an 11-year high and Bing Bong amassed 266mm, their highest in more than 14 years.

Tropical Cyclone Robyn

On 2 April TCWC Perth reported that a Tropical Low had formed at 11.0ºS 92.3ºE. Shortly afterward JTWC classified it as a Tropical Cyclone, reporting the position as 260 nm west of

Cocos Island Cocos Island ( es, Isla del Coco) is an island in the Pacific Ocean administered by Costa Rica, approximately southwest of the Costa Rican mainland. It constitutes the 11th of the 13 districts of Puntarenas Canton of the Province of Puntare ...

. Moving southwards, it strengthened to Tropical Cyclone Robyn on 3 April, reaching Category 2 the next day. Over the next few hours northwesterly wind shear increased and took its toll on the cyclone. After a counter-clockwise loop the cyclone was steered to the west, due to a strengthening ridge to the southwest of the system. On 6 April 06:00 UTC the TCWC Perth downgraded Robyn to a tropical low.

Tropical Cyclone Sean

On 21 April, TCWC Perth reported that a tropical low had formed at 10.3ºS, 116.4ºE, and designated it 13U. The next day it was upgraded to Tropical Cyclone Sean. Sean moved south and kept a steady track. It dissipated on 25 April.

Retirement

In June 2010, the Bureau of Meteorology retired the names ''

Laurence Laurence is an English and French given name (usually female in French and usually male in English). The English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence and it originates from a French form of the Latin ''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man fro ...

'' and '' Magda''. They were later replaced by ''Lincoln'' and ''Megan'' respectively. The name '' Ului'' was also retired by the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center and was replaced by ''Vanessa'' after it caused damage over in Eastern Australia.

Season effects

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References

External links

Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)
.
Australian Bureau of Meteorology (TCWC's Perth, Darwin & Brisbane)

{{DEFAULTSORT:2009-10 Australian Region Cyclone Season Australian region cyclone seasons Articles which contain graphical timelines 2009 Aus 2010 Aus