The 1968–69 Australian region cyclone season was an above-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, featuring 15 tropical lows, of which 12 of them are named. ''Amber'' was the only hurricane-strength tropical cyclone of the season, however, it did not affect any landmasses. It ran from 1 November 1968 to 30 April 1969, with the regional tropical cyclone operational plan defining a "''tropical cyclone year''" separately from a "''tropical cyclone season''", with the "tropical cyclone year" for this season lasting from 1 July 1968 to 30 June 1969.

Season summary

ImageSize = width:800 height:260 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:01/11/1968 till:01/06/1969 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/11/1968 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:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:22/11/1968 till:28/11/1968 color:C1 text:"Adele (C1)" from:16/12/1968 till:22/12/1968 color:C3 text:"Amber (C3)" from:19/12/1968 till:24/12/1968 color:C1 text:"Beatie (C1)" from:26/12/1968 till:27/12/1968 color:C1 text:"Bettina-Berthe (C1)" from:27/12/1968 till:30/12/1968 color:C1 text:"Cheri (C1)" from:24/01/1969 till:26/01/1969 color:C1 text:"Bridget (C1)" from:27/01/1969 till:27/01/1969 color:C1 barset:break barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip barset:skip from:05/02/1969 till:05/02/1969 color:C1 text:"Colleen (C1)" barset:break barset:skip barset:break from:05/02/1969 till:06/02/1969 color:C1 text:"Enid-Fanny (C1)" from:15/02/1969 till:20/02/1969 color:C2 text:"Gladys (C1)" from:21/02/1969 till:24/02/1969 color:TL text:"Irene (TL)" from:01/03/1969 till:09/03/1969 color:C1 text:"Audrey-Bonnie (C1)" from:05/04/1969 till:06/04/1969 color:C1 text:"Leonie (C1)" from:08/04/1969 till:15/04/1969 color:TL text:"TL" from:11/04/1969 till:16/04/1969 color:TL text:"TL" barset:break barset:skip barset:break from:25/04/1969 till:30/04/1969 color:C1 text:"Esther (C1)" bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/11/1968 till:01/12/1968 text:November from:01/12/1968 till:01/01/1969 text:December from:01/01/1969 till:01/02/1969 text:January from:01/02/1969 till:01/03/1969 text:February from:01/03/1969 till:01/04/1969 text:March from:01/04/1969 till:01/05/1969 text:April from:01/05/1969 till:01/06/1969 text:May 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 ...

Systems

Tropical Cyclone Adele

On November 22, a tropical depression formed near

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

and moved to the southwest. It failed to strengthen until the 27th of November when it briefly reached tropical storm status and was named ''Adele''. The storm then weakened and dissipated the next day.

Tropical Cyclone Amber

On December 19, a tropical low developed to the southwest of

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

. It further strengthened to a tropical cyclone, earning the name ''Amber''. It briefly reached Category 1-equivalent hurricane before weakening. It was last noted on December 22.

Tropical Cyclone Beatie

''Beati'' was a weak tropical cyclone that originated to the south of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

. It moved westward, passing to the south of

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...

. It remained weak until it dissipated on December 24.

Tropical Cyclone Bettina-Berthe

A tropical low to the west of

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 ...

strengthened to Tropical Cyclone Bettina. However, it exited the basin towards the South-West Indian Ocean basin, early the next day.

Tropical Cyclone Cheri

''Cheri'' was first noted on December 27 forming to the west of

. It briefly strengthened to a Category 1 tropical cyclone before it was last noted dissipating on December 30.

Tropical Cyclone Bridget

Another weak cyclone, ''Bridget'' was seen developing to the south of

. It moved to the south before it was last noted to the north of

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

Tropical Cyclone Colleen

A tropical low was noted forming near the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

on January 27. It failed to develop and moved into the South Pacific basin, where it was named '' Colleen'' before striking

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. It entered the basin again on February 4; however, it wasn't renamed. It reexited the region, the next day, shortly before transitioning to an extratropical cyclone.

Tropical Cyclone Gladys

''Gladys'' formed over

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, to the south-southwest of

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

. It moved offshore on the same day and moved to the west before it was last noted dissipating to the north-northwest of

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of settl ...

Tropical Cyclone Irene

The weakening ''

Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United States ...

'' from the South Pacific basin entered the region on February 21. The storm weakened as it executed a loop before it was last noted on February 24 to the east of

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

Tropical Cyclone Audrey-Bonnie

A tropical low developed to become Tropical Cyclone Audrey on March 1. However, it made landfall near

Maningrida Maningrida ( Ndjébanna: ''Manayingkarírra'', Kuninjku: ''Manawukan'') is an Aboriginal community in the heart of the Arnhem Land region of Australia's Northern Territory. Maningrida is east of Darwin, and north east of Jabiru. It is on ...

on March 3. It weakened inland as it moved southwestward; however, it regenerated to a tropical cyclone to the northwest of Broome, with the BoM renaming the system Bonnie. It weakened again as it moved further inland, and it was last noted on March 9.

Tropical Cyclone Leonie

''Leonie'' developed to the north of

. Moving southward, the cyclone slowly weakened and transitioned to an extratropical storm before it was last noted inland, to the south of Jingalup.

Tropical Cyclone Esther

The last named tropical cyclone of the season, ''Esther'' formed to the east of

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

on April 25. The system then performed a loop before exiting the basin on April 30. Formed east of Papua New Guinea, executed a loop, and moved eastward into the South Pacific basin.

Other systems

A tropical depression formed on December 16 and later moved into the neighboring South-West Indian Ocean, becoming Cyclone Amber. Tropical Cyclone Enid formed on the extreme western portion of the basin on an unknown date; it later moved on the South-West Indian Ocean basin and was renamed '' Fanny''. There were two storms in April that exited off the northeast coast of Australia. The first one developed on April 8 to the southwest of

Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lies ...

. It moved to the northwest, then turned to the southwest, before it was last noted on April 15, midway between

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 ...

and

. The second one formed on April 11 near the

island nation An island country, island state, or island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...

and was last seen to the south-southwest of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

on April 16.

Season effects

References

Australian region cyclone seasons

Cyclones In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

, Cyclones