The 1980–81 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. It officially started on 1 November 1980 and officially ended on 30 April 1981.

Systems

Severe Tropical Cyclone Alice–Adelaide

Formed on 3 November, just south of Selat Mentawai then moved southwestward before reaching a peak intensity of and a minimum pressure of on 8 November. On 12 November the storm began to move northwestward and two days later dissipated over the open Indian Ocean.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Bert–Christelle

The origins of Cyclone Bert–Christelle can be traced to a quasistationary convergence zone that spread across Indonesia to north of 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 ...

. Bert–Christelle was slow to organize but began to show signs of organization on November 26. Later on that day, the disturbance gained sufficient organization, noted by curved cloudbands, to be classified as Cyclone Bert. The cyclone moved to the southwest, gradually intensifying and attained a peak intensity of and a

barometric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1,013.2 ...

of 965 hPa (28.49 inHg) on November 29. Bert continued the same westerly motion and exited the basin on December 3. It was subsequently named Christelle by

Météo France Météo may refer to: *Weather in French * Météo-France, the French national meteorological service * MétéoMédia, a 24-hour Canadian French-language cable television specialty channel and web site * Météo Suisse, officially the Federal Offic ...

Severe Tropical Cyclone Carol

Cyclone Carol formed from a weak area of low pressure to the southwest of

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

on December 12. While moving to the southwest, the disturbance developed banding features and was classified as Cyclone Carol. As Carol moved to the west, it intensified and peaked at with a barometric pressure of 940 hPa (27.76 inHg) on December 16. Briefly, both Carol and Dan exhibited a Fujiwhara interaction around December 17 due to their close proximity to each other. Carol began to impart wind shear on nearby Cyclone Dan, ultimately leading to its demise. Carol continued its track, but encountered strong wind shear and rapidly weakened. Carol's low level center became decoupled and continued to the west, where it dissipated on December 24.

Tropical Cyclone Dan

Cyclone Dan formed from an area of convection situated north of the Cocos Islands in mid-December. The tropical low moved eastwards and curved to the southwest, coalescing to form Dan. Dan's track shifted abruptly to the northeast from interacting with Carol, attaining a peak intensity of and 985 hPa (29.08 inHg) on December 16. Intensification quickly halted as strong upper-level flow from Cyclone Carol to its south sheared its cloudtops off. Dan's low level circulation moved erratically to the south and passed within 140 km west 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 ...

on December 17, where winds of 74 km/h were observed. Dan ultimately dissipated around 370 km to the south of Christmas Island on December 18. Cyclone Dan is notable in that it traveled generally towards the southeast for the duration of its existence, which is uncommon for cyclones in the area.

Tropical Cyclone Edna

Severe Tropical Cyclone Felix

Severe Tropical Cyclone Mabel

Tropical Cyclone Eddie

Tropical Cyclone Cliff

Initially a

South Pacific tropical cyclone A South Pacific tropical cyclone is a non- frontal, low pressure system that has developed, within an environment of warm sea surface temperatures and little vertical wind shear aloft in the South Pacific Ocean. Within the Southern Hemisphere th ...

, Cliff developed on February 9, near Vanua Lava,

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

. The cyclone reached peak intensity on February 12, with an estimated central pressure of 975 hPa. It passed over

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 ...

at near peak intensity, with sustained winds . After crossing into the Australian region, Cliff struck

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 ...

on February 14, making landfall near

Bundaberg Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...

. The cyclone caused some crop and structural damages in South East Queensland, and beach erosion occurred on the

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

Sunshine Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrared (typically per ...

coasts. One man was drowned off the Gold Coast.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Neil

Severe Tropical Cyclone Freda

Severe Tropical Cyclone Max

Cyclone Max developed from a low-pressure system into a Category 1 cyclone in Van Diemen Gulf, off the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Coast, on 11 March 1981. Moving west-southwest, it crossed over Darwin, Australia later that day, causing tree damage and flooding but minimal structural damage. It subsequently moved west into the

Timor Sea The Timor Sea (, , or ) is a relatively shallow sea in the Indian Ocean bounded to the north by the island of Timor with Timor-Leste to the north, Indonesia to the northwest, Arafura Sea to the east, and to the south by Australia. The Sunda Tr ...

and the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, and although intensifying to Category 3 and reaching a lowest pressure of , did not approach land again. Max was notable for being the first cyclone to pass over Darwin since the city was destroyed by

Cyclone Tracy Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a small but destructive tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974. The small but developing easterly storm was or ...

6 years earlier. The name ''Max'' was not retired from the Northern Australia naming list.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Olga

Severe Tropical Cyclone Paddy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1980-81 Australian region cyclone season * Australian region cyclone seasons Australian region Australian region Australian region