Severe Tropical Cyclone Ingrid
Tropical cyclone Ingrid formed as a tropical low in the eastern Arafura
Sea and then strengthened to cyclone intensity in the Coral Sea then moved
back towards the west into the Gulf of Carpentaria on the 10th. It crossed
the Queensland coast south of Lockhart River as a category 4 cyclone.
Vegetation was stripped bare near the crossing point and there is evidence
of a significant storm tide.
Ingrid rapidly intensified as it moved across the Gulf of Carpentaria
reaching categrory 4 status on the 11th and category 5 status on the 12th
when crossing Dysdale Island just north of Elcho Island. Ingrid continued
on its consistent west northwestward track just north of the north coast of
the Top End but began to weaken before crossing Croker Island. Ingrid
tracked southwest across the Timor Sea and began to re-intensify reaching
category 5 again on the morning of the 15th. After landfall on the
Kimberley coast of Western Australia, north of Kalumburu, Ingrid weakened
rapidly then turned to the southeast then finally weakened to below cyclone
strength on the morning of the 17th near Wyndham.
Due to Ingrid's longevity and proximity to the coast, many population
centres in the Northern Territory were affected, however the effects were
localised and confined mainly to island communities. Many coastal and
island communities lost power and communications. Extensive tree damage and
defoliation occurred at Elcho Island, North Goulburn Island, Croker Island,
the Cobourg Peninsula, the northeast tip of Melville Island and near the
landfall point on the north Kimberley Coast. At Croker Island extensive
damage occurred to several buildings. There was major damage to buildings
at a school on the northern end of Elcho Island. A number of buildings also
lost their roofs at Cape Don on the Cobourg Peninsula, in communities on
the Tiwi Islands and at Kalumburu. There was extensive damage to
infrastructure at Faraway Bay bush camp.
The Wessel Islands north of Gove recorded an average wind speed of 165
km/h. Gove airport experienced its record daily rainfall total for March of
192mm. The maximum wind gust recorded was north of the Top End at 207 km/h
on McCluer Island. At Truscott on the north Kimberley coast 438mm of rain
fell in the 24 hours to 9am on the 16th.

Animated Radar Images :
Stay tuned for more Ingrid animations. Im currently putting together a
satellite animation and animations from the Darwin Radar.
Gove Radar : AVI GIF
Information courtesy of the Bureau of
Meteorology