The 1973–74 Australian region cyclone season was the third most active

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dep ...

season in the Australian Region.

Systems

Severe Tropical Cyclone Ines

On November 17, Ines formed offshore the

Top End The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...

. Moving westward, the cyclone passed north of Bathurst and Melville islands. Thereafter, Ines curved southwestward and intensified into a cyclone while nearing

Troughton Island Troughton Island is an island located off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia, about north-west of Kalumburu and north-west of the Mungalalu Truscott Airbase. Troughton Island is used as a helicopter base for the Timor Sea oil rigs app ...

. The storm made landfall in Kimberley,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

on November 19. Ines slowly weakened after moving inland and dissipated on November 24.

Tropical Cyclone Annie

Cyclone Annie developed northwest of Western Australia on November 21. By December 8, it dissipated.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Beryl

Beryl formed just south of the

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make u ...

on November 26. The cyclone strengthened, peaking with winds of on December 1. Three days later, Beryl made landfall near

Carnarvon, Western Australia Carnarvon is a coastal town situated approximately north of Perth, in Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the Gascoyne River on the Indian Ocean. The popular Shark Bay world heritage area lies to the south of the town and the Ningalo ...

and quickly dissipated. Minor wind damage was reported.

Tropical Cyclone Natalie–Lottie

Cyclone Lottie struck Fiji's Southern Lau Group on December 10. High seas caused the ship Uluilakeba to capsize killing more than 85 people.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Cecily

The next system, Cecily, developed near the

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on December 11. Cecily moved south-southwestward and peaked with winds of . On December 19, the cyclone dissipated.

Tropical Cyclone Una

Una formed southwest of

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its ca ...

on December 15. It struck

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

before dissipating on December 20.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Deidre–Delinda

Cyclone Deidre developed in the vicinity of the Cocos Islands on December 20. Moving generally west-southwestward across the Indian Ocean, it crossed the 80°E on December 25.

Tropical Cyclone Erica

Tropical Cyclone Erica brought heavy rainfall to portions of Western Australia.

Tropical Cyclone Fiona–Gwenda

Fiona-Gwenda was operationally considered two different tropical cyclones.

Tropical Cyclone Vera

On January 18, Cyclone Vera developed offshore Queensland. After moving northeastward, it then curved to the southeast. On January 20, Vera crossed 160°E and entered the South Pacific basin.

Tropical Cyclone Wanda

This cyclone existed from 24 January to 27 January 1974 and led to extensive

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caus ...

over southeast

. Although this

was relatively weak, it dropped enormous quantities of rain on south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern

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over the

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port J ...

(26–27 January) weekend, resulting in some of the worst flooding seen in a century. The Queensland state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, fared particularly badly, with fourteen lives lost and parts of the city submerged under 2 metres of the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the G ...

. (See

1974 Brisbane flood In January 1974 a flood occurred in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia after three weeks of continual rain. The Brisbane River, which runs through the heart of the city, broke its banks and flooded the surrounding areas. The cyclone that produ ...

.) In northern New South Wales, a further two fatalities were reported. The cyclone's final toll: 16 dead, over 300 injured; 56 homes destroyed, a further 1,600 submerged; 8000 people left homeless.Bureau of Meteorology (1992). ''Climate of Queensland'', Commonwealth of Australia * The Corinda Landslip
Australian Bureau of Meteorology article: The Big Wet - January 1974Natural Disasters in Australia

Severe Tropical Cyclone Pam

During 4 February Severe Tropical Cyclone Pam moved south-westwards into the Australian region as a Category 5 severe tropical cyclone, with peak 10-minute sustained wind speeds estimated at . Over the next couple of days, Pam passed about to the east of Brisbane, as it gradually weakened and recurved south-eastwards. The system was last noted during 7 February as it moved back into the South Pacific basin.

Tropical Cyclone Yvonne

Cyclone Yvonne developed on February 8 and struck 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 ...

Severe Tropical Cyclone Helen

On February 28, Cyclone Helen formed offshore Western Australia. Moving generally westward, it dissipated on March 8.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Zoe

Cyclone Zoe was named and detected on 9 March 1974 when it was northeast of

. In the following days it moved steadily southward and interacted with an already-exiting trough in the easterlies to produce sustained and very heavy rainfall all along the coast from Brisbane south almost to Sydney. In the four days between 10 and 13 March, Brisbane received and some places in the

Northern Rivers Northern Rivers is the most north-easterly region of the Australian state of New South Wales, located between north of the state capital, Sydney, and encompasses the catchments and fertile valleys of the Clarence, Richmond, and Tweed rive ...

region of

received as much as . With catchments already saturated by heavy January rains, record flooding occurred on the

Richmond River The Richmond River is a river situated in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features The river rises at the northern end of the Richmond Range, near its junction with the McPherson Range, on the Queens ...

,Going to Venice
/ref> which reached a height of .

Severe Tropical Cyclone Isobel

Cyclone Isobel existed over the South-East Indian Ocean from March 9 to March 17.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Jessie

Jessie developed between Indonesia and Western Australia on March 16. Moving west-southwestward, it was last noted on March 25.

Tropical Cyclone Jenny

Cyclone Jenny struck northern Western Australia.

Tropical Cyclone Alice

The final system, Cyclone Alice, existed offshore the east coast of Australia from March 21 to March 23.

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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