Cyclone 'Olwyn' - Passes thru Carnarvon...
 

Tropical 'Olwyn' passes thru Carnarvon, and......

Cyclone Olwyn continues to weaken

There was plenty of warning, as there is nowadays, and the projected track was easily available.

I wonder why this was not flown out to a 'safer' location.....
e.g. Meeka, Newman, or even Port Hedland.....

'Tis a shame to see a serviceable aircraft left to its fate...note the tie-down ropes still attached - to the stbd wing anyway...

No Cheers.. :confused: :(

Don't worry Griff, it'll buff out! :ouch:

I don't know if it was even flyable. Had been sitting there for years.

Why are the news media referring to damage done by ex Tropical Cyclone Olwyn? There was nothing ex about it when the damage was done.

Meanwhile, in reporting on Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu, the same news media can't even spell Port Vila, instead insisting on "Port Villa".

These people are supposed to be professionals. :ugh:

Fris, ex Tropical Cyclone is the correct definition. There are no Tropical cyclones outside of the Tropics. They become Sub tropical Lows.

WMO definition, not mine.

The oooh and aaarrrhh press need to whip up some emotion with their jottings and the word "Cyclone" is one of their favourites.

The SE Queensland press are past masters at this. Everytime it rains in Brisbane they reckon it's a cyclone and the world is about to end.

Tipsy
I'd better go and buy batteries incase there is a cyclone in Roma St.:ok:

Rubbish.

WMO Definition of a tropical cyclone:

"Generic term for a non-frontal synoptic scale cyclone originating over tropical or sub-tropical waters with organized convection and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation."

Given that Carnarvon is around only 1.2° south of the Tropic of Capricorn, Olwyn was very definitely an active tropical cyclone when it wrecked Carnarvon, and would still have been as it went past Perth (if it hadn't konked out/become an ex beforehand).

A cyclone in Australia is defined as, "having a maximum mean wind speed of 34 knots or greater, extending more than half-way around near the centre, and (those speeds) persisting for at least six hours."

BOM - About cyclones

On that basis, Olwyn was still a cyclone until well inland from Carnarvon. It petered out into a rain-bearing depression NE of Geraldton.
The reference to "ex-tropical Cyclone Olwyn" was probably confusion by the journo over the cyclones definition at the current time of writing the article, and the time when Olwyn actually hit Carnarvon.

Carnarvon registered peak wind gusts of 146 kmh (79kts) at around 13:30 on the 13th March.

Carnarvon - last 72hrs of weather observations

When is a 'cyclone', not a 'cyclone'..??


Tropical Cyclone Alby

When its name is 'Alby'.....was described as a 'Cyclone' until after 'abeam of Perth', to the West....and continued down into the
Southern Ocean.

Anybody younger than around 37, need not comment........

Cheers:p:p

I was living in the Upper Gascoyne when Alby danced past Carnarvon and I remember the various coastal stations calling in on the RFDS frequencies reporting its progress.

We tied off all our windmills in anticipation but it stayed offshore and no damage was done to us. It's a long time ago but I think De Grey got flooded and a few ended up sitting on the station roof waiting for the water to go down. We would have loved it to come inland because we had endured many years of drought and a cyclone brings good rain to the interior as it deteriorates into a depression.

A few years back the Lyons and Gascoyne Rivers both came down with a rush and Gascoyne Junction at their confluence was badly damaged...the unthinkable happened and the pub got washed away along with around 120 years of history inside. A lot of damage was done to some of the historic homesteads, too, especially Bidgemia which was originally constructed of mud brick.

It's a harsh land up there but it stays in your heart forever.

Kaz

Call it what you like. If its not in the tropics it cannot be a tropical anything.

Therefore calling it an EX tropical whatever is correct!

Tipsy:ugh:

Borrocks, the origin of the system determines its designation, not its current position in relation to the Tropics.

Couldn't forget Alby in a hurry. I was living in a small wheatbelt town about 280 kms SE of Perth when Alby struck.
The wind strength and continuity was amazing - but what was worse, was the dust!

The wind carried a pall of red dust from the Northern wheatbelt and Gascoyne, that smothered everything.
I once had a photo of our office inside the house (lost both in a fire), and the office desk was covered in a deep layer of red dust - as was everything else in the house.

What was more amazing was the fact that we had never seen Mulla-Mulla growing anywhere in the wheatbelt before Alby (Northern or Southern wheatbelt) - but after Alby, Mulla-Mulla bushes sprang up everywhere through the wheatbelt!
We were all mystified to its identity for a while until it was identified by someone who knew the plant.
The Mulla-Mulla seeds were obviously carried in the dust storm and didn't take long to germinate and establish a foothold.

I remember Alby well. I was in the Northern Wheatbelt at that time. Had my C180 locked into a machinery shed, and sandbagged all the doors of the house. despite this, everything filled with red dust from further north. It was inside vehicles and inside the 180 despite them being shedded and closed up. Took some time with a compressor and gun to blow the dust out of engine bays and the cabins.

Not only did 'mulla mulla' spread all over the wheatbelt, but both species of melon - the Afghan and the Paddy sprung up all the way to the south coast. We had only seen the very first 'mintweed' in 1978, but it too spread allover the country with Alby. And so began 'summer' weed spraying in the WA wheatbelt.

Olwyn missing the wheatbelt was a blessing. happy days,

Or as the meedja says; "Carnarvon.:rolleyes: