The 1999–2000 Australian region cyclone season was a slightly 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 ran from 1 November 1999 to 30 April 2000. The regional tropical cyclone operational plan also defines a "''tropical cyclone year''" separately from a "''tropical cyclone season''", with the "tropical cyclone year" for this season lasting from 1 July 1999 to 30 June 2000. Two of the most notable cyclones of the season were Steve and Rosita.

Cyclone Steve Tropical Cyclone Steve was a tropical cyclone that affected northern Australia from 27 February 2000 until 11 March 2000. Cyclone Steve was noted for its longevity and traversal of northern and western Australia. It impacted on regions of nort ...

transversed the entire Australian continent, and although a fairly weak cyclone, caused widespread flooding in

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

, while Cyclone Rosita made an almost direct hit on Broome as a severe Category 4 cyclone, devastating several remote stations and the town itself. Rosita surprised many residents of its arrival, as it made landfall very late in the season. __TOC__

Systems

ImageSize = width:800 height:215 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:01/11/1999 till:01/06/2000 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/11/1999 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:02/12/1999 till:03/12/1999 color:TL text:"TL" from:09/12/1999 till:17/12/1999 color:C2 text:"Ilsa (C2)" from:09/12/1999 till:16/12/1999 color:C5 text:" John (C5)" from:24/01/2000 till:02/02/2000 color:C3 text:"Kirrily (C3)" from:01/02/2000 till:08/02/2000 color:C3 text:" Leon (C3)" from:14/02/2000 till:18/02/2000 color:C1 text:"Marcia (C1)" from:27/02/2000 till:11/03/2000 color:C2 text:" Steve (C2)" from:28/02/2000 till:09/03/2000 color:C4 text:"Norman (C4)" barset:break from:15/03/2000 till:20/03/2000 color:C2 text:"Olga (C2)" from:24/03/2000 till:25/03/2000 color:C2 text:" Hudah (C2)" from:01/04/2000 till:03/04/2000 color:C3 text:" Tessi (C3)" from:03/04/2000 till:07/04/2000 color:C2 text:"Vaughan (C2)" from:11/04/2000 till:20/04/2000 color:C5 text:"Paul (C5)" from:14/04/2000 till:21/04/2000 color:C5 text:" Rosita (C5)" from:21/05/2000 till:23/05/2000 color:TL text:"24F (TL)" bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/11/1999 till:01/12/1999 text:November from:01/12/1999 till:01/01/2000 text:December from:01/01/2000 till:01/02/2000 text:January from:01/02/2000 till:01/03/2000 text:February from:01/03/2000 till:01/04/2000 text:March from:01/04/2000 till:01/05/2000 text:April from:01/05/2000 till:01/06/2000 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 ...

Tropical Cyclone Ilsa

Ilsa formed to the northeast 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 ...

on 11 December 1999. The cyclone moved to the south of Christmas Island on the 13th producing a heavy swell which caused some damage. Its development was impeded by vertical

wind shear Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...

for a large part of its lifetime. After a long track eastwards across 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), ...

it eventually crossed the

Western Australian 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 ...

coastline on the Eighty Mile Beach near the Sandfire Roadhouse during the early afternoon of 17 December 1999. Apart from producing heavy rainfall, Ilsa did not produce any significant damage.

Severe Tropical Cyclone John

Tropical Cyclone John started as a low to the south-west 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 9 December 1999. It rapidly intensified and moved towards the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...

coast of

. Just before landfall it was a severe category 5 storm with a central pressure of 915 hPa, with winds estimated at being up to . The cyclone crossed the coast just to the west of Whim Creek between

Port Hedland A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inla ...

and Karratha on 8:30 am (WST) 15 December 1999. At the time of coastal crossing, it was estimated to have a central pressure between 930 and 940 hPa. The cyclone moved inland before dissipating the next day.

experienced gale-force winds for a period of 18 hours and near storm force winds with gusts to were observed on 15 December for most of the day. A maximum storm surge of 2 metres was recorded by the Port Hedland Authority at 6 am WST. At Karratha, on the western side of the circulation, the maximum wind gust recorded was . At Cape Lambert, winds averaged for 5 hours with a maximum gust of . There was some minor damage in Karratha. High winds and flooding caused extensive structural damage at many stations in the Pilbara and mining operations were suspended at many sites. The 113-year-old Whim Creek Hotel suffered major damage with the top floor lost, and the town of

Newman Newman is a surname of Germanic Anglo-Saxon origins. Newman is the modern English form of the name used in Great Britain and among people of British ancestry around the world (as is 'Numan'), while Neumann (with variant spellings) is used in Ger ...

experienced some flooding ( of rain was recorded). However, major towns in the Pilbara escaped any serious damage, and the damage was relatively light due to the sparseness of population in the area John hit. There were no deaths from John. Ten hours prior to landfall on the Australian coastline, John was moving southwards directly towards Karratha and Dampier. Had John failed to turn to the south-east like what it did, damage to the towns of Karratha, Dampier, Roebourne and Wickham caused by John would have been much worse.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Kirrily

Tropical Cyclone Kirrily formed about east of the

on 24 January 2000 and moved west southwest towards the

coast. Kirrily intensified, reaching Category 2 status on 27 January. On 28 January, Kirrily turned southwest, moving away from the coast, weakening to below cyclone strength by 31 January, while located approximately west of Carnarvon. The lowest central pressure was estimated to have reached 970 hPa.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Leon–Eline

low-pressure area In meteorology, a low-pressure area (LPA), low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. It is the opposite of a high-pressure area. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with incle ...

developed within the

monsoon trough The monsoon trough is a convergence zone between the wind patterns of the southern and northern hemispheres. It is a portion of the Intertropical Convergence Zone in the Western Pacific,Bin WangThe Asian Monsoon.Retrieved 2008-05-03. and is dep ...

on 1 February, while located about south of the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n island of

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

. The low formed due to a surge of energy within the monsoon that had crossed the

equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

from the northwest. Associated convection was initially sparse, and over the subsequent few days the system tracked west-southwestward without much development, moving around a large

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

over northwestern Australia. There was initially moderate

in the region, although an

anticyclone A high-pressure area, high, or anticyclone, is an area near the surface of a planet where the atmospheric pressure is greater than the pressure in the surrounding regions. Highs are middle-scale meteorological features that result from interpl ...

was developing aloft, which allowed the convection was able to persist over the center and gradually develop outflow. Late on 3 February, the Perth Tropical Cyclone Warning Center (PTCWC) upgraded the tropical low to a Category 1 on the Australian tropical cyclone scale, estimating 10 minute sustained winds of . At 04:00 UTC the next day, the PTCWC named the storm Tropical Cyclone Leon. An hour prior, 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, South P ...

(JTWC) initiated advisories on Tropical Cyclone 11S, while the storm was located about south-southeast 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 ...

. After becoming a named storm, Leon turned more to the west-southwest, due to a trough weakening the ridge to the south. The storm developed increased convective banding, aided by decreasing wind shear, and quickly intensified. Early on 5 February, the PTCWC upgraded Leon to a Category 3 on the Australian scale, estimating 10 minute winds of . At 22:00 UTC that day, the agency estimated an initial peak of . On 6 February, the cyclone developed an

eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

in the center of the convection that was only visible on

Special sensor microwave/imager The Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) is a seven-channel, four-frequency, linearly polarized passive microwave radiometer system.Hollinger, J.P. 1989: ''DMSP Special Sensor Microwave/Imager Calibration/Validation''. Final Report, Vol. I., Spac ...

, not on satellite imagery. On the same day, the JTWC upgraded Leon to the equivalent of a minimal hurricane, estimating 1 minute winds of . A trough passing to the south increased wind shear, causing the storm to weaken. Around that time, Leon passed about south of the

, while turning more to the west after the ridge strengthened to the south. By 8 February, the circulation was exposed from the rapidly dwindling thunderstorms. At 18:00 UTC that day, Leon crossed 90° E into the south-west Indian Ocean,

Tropical Cyclone Marcia

Marcia was a Category 1 cyclone that formed on 15 February, and remained quasi-stationary in the open Indian Ocean at around 15˚S, 103˚E. Perth issued its final warning on 17 February at 0400 UTC, downgrading to a tropical low. Marcia dissipated on 21 February. The lowest central pressure was 992 hPa achieved on 16 February at 1000 UTC.

Tropical Cyclone Steve

A long lived cyclone lasting 13 days, Steve actually made landfall four times on the Australian mainland. It formed on 25 February 2000 and crossed the

coast north 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 ...

the same day as a strong Category 2 in the Australian Scale. It weakened to a low and then redeveloped in the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia. It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea. The northern boundary ...

. Steve then crossed into the

and weakened again. The low then moved over the

near Broome and reformed again into a tropical cyclone. It intensified into a strong Category 2, reaching its peak intensity, and made landfall to the west of Karratha. It weakened to a Category 1 and emerged again over the

near Carnarvon. It finally made its fourth landfall as a weak Category 1 on 9 March 2000 near

Shark Bay Shark Bay () is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The area is located approximately north of Perth, on the westernmost point of the Australian continent. UNESCO's listing of Shark Bay as a World Heritage S ...

. It accelerated to the south-east towards Esperance and emerged over the

Great Australian Bight The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight (geography), bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern Coast, coastline of mainland Australia. There are two definitions for its extent—one by the Internation ...

where it became extratropical. There was extensive damage across a wide area of Australia, from

to Esperance in

on 11 March. Most of the damage was caused by severe flooding which resulted with costs in excess of $100 million (AUD). There were no reports of deaths from Cyclone Steve.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Norman

Severe Tropical Cyclone Norman developed from a low that moved off the west

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

coast on 29 February 2000. The cyclone tracked parallel to the

coastline for 3 days at a distance of about , before continuing on a westward track away from the

coast. Norman quickly reached a peak intensity as a Category 4 cyclone on 2 March with a central pressure estimated at 920 hPa, while about to the west-northwest of Exmouth. Norman soon weakened over the following 2 days. During 6 March, the cyclone changed direction to a southerly track. The system finally dissipated on 8 March. Norman had no direct impact on Western Australia.

Tropical Cyclone Olga

Olga formed from a low that developed in 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 ...

on 15 March 2000. The low maintained a west southwest track, paralleling the Kimberley and Pilbara coasts. The low was named Tropical Cyclone Olga on 17 March while located approximately to the north 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 ...

. Olga intensified to Category 2 status with a central pressure of 980 hPa. By the 20th the system had weakened to a tropical low while located about to the west of Carnarvon. The system had no direct effect on Western Australia.

Tropical Cyclone Hudah

Severe Tropical Cyclone Tessi

A tropical low in the northern Coral Sea moved toward the coast, deepened into Tropical Cyclone Tessi on 2 April and crossed the coast near Bambaroo and Crystal Creek ( 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 ...

) early on 3 April as a Category 2 system on landfall. Tessi's winds unroofed buildings, uprooted trees, downed power lines in the area between Ingham and Ayr. The Strand suffered wave damage with several boats destroyed. Heavy rain caused landslides on Townsville's Castle Hill destroying two homes and requiring the evacuation of another fifty homes. Considerable damage to personal property and to Townsville City infrastructure was reported. Townsville Aero reported a record April wind gust of , a record April daily rainfall total of and the cyclone was the main contribution to a record April monthly total of . In addition, moderate damage was also reported throughout Magnetic Island and the then Thuringowa. Minor to moderate flooding in the Haughton River increased to major in the lower reaches with the highest level since the start of records in 1978 being recorded at Giru.

Tropical Cyclone Vaughan

A tropical low was first identified near

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 ...

on 29 March. The low tracked northwest through the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

to become Tropical Cyclone Vaughan early on 4 April. The system rapidly intensified to Category 2 during the morning of the 4th and tracked westward toward the north

tropical coast. Cyclone Vaughan weakened a little during 5 April and was downgraded to a Category 1 system before re-intensifying to Category 2 early on 6 April. However, by late morning on the 6th the system again rapidly weakened and was downgraded below cyclone strength during the afternoon. The remnants of Cyclone Vaughan drifted slowly northwest and dissipated during 7 April. There was no evidence of any significant impact on the coast from Vaughan.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Paul

Paul formed about north of Karratha on 13 April 2000 and moved west, away from the West Australian coastline, thus never posing any threat to coastal communities. The cyclone showed rapid intensification and Severe Tropical Cyclone Paul reached Category 5 status during 15 April, and the lowest central pressure was estimated to have been about 920 hPa the following day. Severe Tropical Cyclone Paul passed about to the south of the

Cocos (Keeling) 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 ...

during the 17th and the central pressure was estimated to be about 940 hPa. Wind gusts at Cocos Islands were in the order of around . TC Paul continued to weaken as the system followed a general west-south-west track across the

. The cyclone slowed to be almost stationary on 20 April and weakened to below cyclone strength. Perth issued the final warning for TC Paul on 20 April when the Category 1 cyclone was in the vicinity of

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...

14.7° south and

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

94.3° east.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Rosita

Rosita was named on 17 April while located north of

. It rapidly intensified into a Category 5 storm on 19 April while moving to the east-south-east. Rosita struck the

coast as a Category 4 at 0100 hours WST on 20 April 2000, south of Broome. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Rosita made landfall as a Category 5 cyclone. Its lowest central pressure was estimated to be 930 hPa a couple of hours prior to landfall. The small cyclone left severe structural damage in Eco Beach tourist resort, Yardoogarra and Thangoo Stations. Elsewhere there was considerable tree and powerline damage.

Other systems

On 2 December, TCWC Brisbane reported that a tropical low had developed within a monsoonal trough about to the north of Cook Town. During that day the low moved eastwards while weakening, before TCWC Brisbane issued the final bulletin on the low early the next day. On 10 January, a tropical low developed to the northwest of

. It moved to the southeast before it was last noted, the next day. On 19 February, a weak tropical low formed about 225 km to the east-southeast of

. It became stationary until it was last seen on the same day. There is a possibility that

Steve Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form ( hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen. Notable people A–D * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Abel (born 1970), New Zealand politician * Steve Adams (disambiguation) ...

formed from the remnant of this low. A tropical low was seen beginning to form, while located over the

Solomon Sea The Solomon Sea is a sea located within the Pacific Ocean. It lies between Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Many major battles were fought there during World War II. Extent The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of ...

on 14 March. It moved to the southeast before it was last noted while dissipating on 16 March, to the north of

. On 26 April, a tropical low was detected to the west of

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the '' Endeavour'', for ...

. It moved to the west, before turning north and to the east, until it entered the South Pacific basin on 31 April. It meandered on the basin, before reentering the Australian basin on 2 May. It accelerated to the west until it was last noted near Mackay on the same day. It also possessed gale-force winds; however, like the low that formed two days later, it wasn't named. The last system of the season formed on 20 May as a tropical low to the south of 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 ...

. It was last seen on 23 May as it entered the South Pacific basin.

Seasonal effects

, - , TL , , 2–3 December , , bgcolor=#, Tropical Low , , bgcolor=#, Not specified , , bgcolor=#, , , Cape York , , None , , None , , , - , Ilsa , , 9–17 December , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Western Australia , , , , , , , - ,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, , 9–16 December , , bgcolor=#, Category 5 severe tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Pilbara, Western Australia , , , , , , , - , TL , , 21–23 January , , bgcolor=#, Tropical Low , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , - , Kirrily , , , , bgcolor=#, Category 3 severe tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , None , , , , , , , - ,

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

, , 1–8 February , , bgcolor=#, Category 3 severe tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , , , , , , , , - , Marcia , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , None , , , , , , , - ,

, , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Northern Australia, Western Australia , , , , , , , - , Norman , , 29 February – 9 March , , bgcolor=#, Category 4 severe tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Western Australia , , , , , , , - , Olga , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , None , , , , , , , - , Hudah , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Madagascar, Mozambique , , , , , , , - , Tessi , , 1–3 April , , bgcolor=#, Category 3 severe tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Queensland , , , , , , , - , Vaughan , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Queensland , , , , , , , - , Paul , , 11–20 April , , bgcolor=#, Category 5 severe tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Cocos Islands , , , , , , , - , Rosita , , 14–21 April , , bgcolor=#, Category 5 severe tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Western Australia , , , , , , , - , , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , None , , None , , None , ,

Storm names

Most tropical cyclones in the region are assigned names by the Australian

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Government of Australia, Australian Government that is responsible for providing Weather forecasting, weather forecasts and Meteorology, meteorological services to Australia a ...

. Tropical cyclones are named if they are non-frontal low-pressure systems of

synoptic scale In meteorology, the synoptic scale (also called the large scale or cyclonic scale) is a horizontal length scale of the order of or more. This corresponds to a horizontal scale typical of mid-latitude depressions (e.g. extratropical cyclones). ...

developing over warm waters, or if Dvorak intensity analysis indicate the presence of gale force or stronger winds near the centre. Therefore, tropical systems with gales in one or more quadrants, but not near the centre, are not named. All names assigned in the Australian region are selected sequentially. Only the names used during this cyclone season are listed below. The complete list of names for each basin are found in the

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...

's official lists. Each Australian Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre (

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Darwin, and

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 ...

) maintains a list of names arranged alphabetically and alternating male and female. Tropical cyclones that develop in the South-East Indian Ocean are assigned names by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre in Perth. This region includes the areas east of 90°E, south of the

Equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

, and west of 125°E. Tropical cyclones that develop south of the Equator between 125°E and 141°E are assigned names by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre in Darwin,

. This area includes most of the cyclones that form 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 Sea is ...

and Western

. Tropical cyclones in the

and Eastern Gulf of Carpentaria between 141°E and 160°E and south of 10°S are assigned names by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre in Brisbane,

. Perth * Ilsa —

— Kirrily —

— Marcia — Norman — Olga — Paul – Rosita Brisbane *

— Tessi — Vaughan No storms formed in Darwin region during the 1999–2000 season. However,

was named by TCWC Brisbane before passing through the warning area of Darwin. Additionally, the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre in

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 ...

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 ...

reserves the right to name cyclones that develop in the

and

Gulf of Papua The Gulf of Papua is located in the southern coast region of New Guinea. It has a total surface area of . Geography Some of New Guinea's largest rivers, such as the Fly River, Turama River, Kikori River, Purari River, and Wawoi River flow ...

, north of 10°S between 141°E and 160°E. Names are selected randomly from their list and retired once they are used. No cyclones were named by this warning centre during the 1999–2000 season. The Bureau of Meteorology retired the names ''John'', ''Rosita'', ''Steve'' and ''Tessi'', replacing them with ''Joseph'', ''Robyn'', ''Stan'' and ''Tammie'' respectively. Robyn was used for the first time in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

with Stan occurring in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. The other names were not retained after the naming lists were combined prior to the 2008-09 cyclone season

References

External links

Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)

Fiji Meteorological Service (RSMC Nadi)

RA V Tropical Cyclone Committee Final Report

WMO Annual Summary of Global Tropical Cyclone Seasons 2000

Joint Typhoon Warning Center 2000 ATCR
* tp://ftp.bom.gov.au/anon2/home/ncc/cyclone/cyclones_newformat.zip Raw cyclone track data
BoM Monthly Significant Weather Summaries

BoM 1999-2000 Annual Weather Report

1999-00 Annual Summary (Western Australia)

* ttp://australiasevereweather.com/cyclones/2000/summ1999-2000.htm Gary Padgett's Southern Hemisphere 1999-2000 Tropical Cyclone Season Review {{DEFAULTSORT:1999-00 Australian Region Cyclone Season Australian region cyclone seasons 2000 AUS