Monster Cyclone Ingrid On a Collision Course With Queensland by Everton Fox
The major weather event currently occurring around the world is the pending arrival of “monster” Cyclone Ingrid on the northeastern coast of Australia. Gales are expected to develop between Lockhart River and Port Douglas during Wednesday morning with destructive winds likely later in the day. Cooktown and the Aboriginal communities of Hopevale and Wujul Wujul are the places most likely to bear the brunt when the weather system crosses the coast.
Ingrid is a small cyclone with an eye of just 12 miles (20km) in diameter and as such it is very intense. Ingrid is a category five cyclone and could well be more powerful than the storm that devastated Darwin some 30 years ago. On that occasion Cyclone Tracy destroyed the northern city on Christmas Day 1974, killing 65 people in the process.
The winds are currently gusting to around 190mph and although it may ease a little in the next 24 hours, it is still likely to be gusting to around 170mph when it makes landfall. Clearly there is no room for complacency here because the vicious winds will be accompanied by torrential rain and heavy seas.
North of the Equator, heavy rain has also brought some concern to the people of southern Texas in the United States. This is normally a dry time of year. However, Victoria which is situated on the coastal plain, received 46mm of rain in the 24 hours going into Monday morning. This is more than the March average of 45mm.
Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic, even the Saraha has seen some very wet weather. I suspect that any rainfall is welcome here, and on Monday they had almost enough to last the whole year. The average annual total is around 22mm and the average for March is just 2mm. On this occasion, 16mm fell in 24 hours.
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