Severe Tropical Cyclone Monica
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Tropical Cyclone Monica which has been reported to have been the strongest
cyclone ever recorded in the southern hemisphere threatened the entire coast of
NT and the Far North of QLD. The US Navy Research Centre using the "Dvorak
Technique" (A satellite imagery intensity estimation) rated the central pressure
at 879hp with 290km/h sustained gusts. However, the BOM reported Monica as being
much weaker with a central pressure of 915hp at the same time. Earlier the BOM
reported a central pressure of 905hp and a maximum gust speed near the core of
350km/h.
The Category 5 cyclone first crossed the coast over Cape Wessel at around
8:00pm 23/04/2006 CST. The Automatic Weather Station stopped recording at
about the same time with a final reading of 70kts (130km/h) and pressure of
970hp.
Final Reading from the Cape Wessel AWS
Date/Time
CST |
Temp
°C |
Wind |
Pressure |
Rain
since 9am
mm |
Weather |
|
Dir |
Speed
knots |
Gust
knots |
hPa |
Trend |
| 23/20:00 |
25.8 |
W |
70 |
- |
970.2 |
- |
0.0 |
Rain |
Monica, still a category 5, then kept heading west she took a WSW turn about
7:00am on the 24/04/2006 CST. The eye then proceeded to make landfall at
Maningrida at 6:30pm on the 24/04/2006 CST where the AWS Recorded a maximum wind
gust of 80kts (148km/h) with a pressure of 986.4hp. The AWS kept logging data
until 20:02 when it failed probably due to debris damage, sudden gust or
imbedded tornado. Maningrida copped the full brunt of the Category 5 system with
the eye hitting approx 10km from the town packing winds up to an estimated
350km/h, amazingly, no one was injured! 12 or so houses were damaged or
destroyed and the cyclone shelter also lost part of its roof!
Pictures of damage in Maningrida featured in the NT News.
Final Readings from Maningrida AWS
Date/Time
CST |
Temp
°C |
Wind |
Pressure |
Rain
since 9am
mm |
Weather |
|
Dir |
Speed
knots |
Gust
knots |
hPa |
Trend |
| 24/20:02 |
24.5 |
ENE |
45 |
64 |
991.0 |
- |
225.2 |
|
| 24/20:01 |
24.4 |
ENE |
46 |
75 |
990.7 |
- |
224.2 |
|
| 24/19:54 |
24.3 |
ENE |
49 |
75 |
990.2 |
- |
215.4 |
|
| 24/19:30 |
24.3 |
E |
46 |
67 |
988.2 |
- |
189.8 |
|
| 24/19:09 |
24.4 |
E |
49 |
69 |
987.1 |
- |
169.8 |
|
| 24/19:00 |
24.4 |
E |
51 |
79 |
986.7 |
- |
159.0 |
|
| 24/18:31 |
24.1 |
ESE |
49 |
80 |
986.4 |
- |
127.2 |
|
Monica was now loosing strength due to being over land. She stayed on a WSW
track and weakened to a Category 4 by 10:00pm 24/06/2006 CST. She also affected
the community of Oenpelli. She then weakened to a Category 2 in about 4 hours
when the eye hit Jabiru at about 2:30am on 25/06/2006. Downed trees, minor
structural damage and, loss of power were experienced in Jabiru and Oenpelli.
Jabiru AWS Measurements
| Date/ Time |
Temp |
Dew Point |
Rel Hum |
Delta-T |
Wind |
Press |
Rain since 9 am |
|
Dir |
Speed |
Gust |
Speed |
Gust |
|
CST |
°C |
°C |
% |
°C |
km/h |
knots |
hPa |
mm |
| 25/03:21 |
23.0 |
22.8 |
99 |
0.1 |
E |
74 |
102 |
40 |
55 |
994.3 |
72.4 |
| 25/03:01 |
23.1 |
22.9 |
99 |
0.1 |
E |
70 |
106 |
38 |
57 |
992.1 |
65.0 |
| 25/03:00 |
23.1 |
23.0 |
99 |
0.1 |
E |
70 |
106 |
38 |
57 |
992.1 |
64.8 |
| 25/02:30 |
23.2 |
23.1 |
99 |
0.1 |
ESE |
69 |
106 |
37 |
57 |
990.0 |
43.6 |
| 25/02:19 |
23.2 |
22.9 |
98 |
0.2 |
ESE |
72 |
102 |
39 |
55 |
990.4 |
37.0 |
| 25/02:01 |
23.9 |
23.3 |
96 |
0.4 |
SE |
54 |
87 |
29 |
47 |
991.2 |
25.2 |
| 25/01:54 |
23.8 |
23.1 |
96 |
0.5 |
SE |
46 |
80 |
25 |
43 |
991.7 |
23.2 |
| 26/23:30 |
26.1 |
24.2 |
89 |
1.3 |
ENE |
11 |
17 |
6 |
9 |
1009.7 |
0.2 |
By 10:00am on the 25/04/2006 Monica passed near Middle Point as a Tropical
Low and proceeded North West passing to the South West of Darwin also as a
tropical low. Maximum winds to 30kts (56km/h) were recorded at the Middle Point
AWS at 9:00am on the 25/04/2006, and 20kts (54km/h) at the Darwin Airport at
2:51pm on the 25/04/2006.
Middle Point AWS Obersations
| Date/ Time |
Temp |
Dew Point |
Rel Hum |
Delta-T |
Wind |
Press |
Rain since 9 am |
|
Dir |
Speed |
Gust |
Speed |
Gust |
|
CST |
°C |
°C |
% |
°C |
km/h |
knots |
hPa |
mm |
| 25/10:30 |
24.4 |
23.9 |
97 |
0.3 |
ESE |
33 |
46 |
18 |
25 |
1001.8 |
4.4 |
| 25/09:59 |
24.2 |
23.9 |
98 |
0.2 |
SE |
30 |
50 |
16 |
27 |
1000.9 |
4.0 |
| 25/09:30 |
24.2 |
23.9 |
98 |
0.2 |
SSE |
35 |
48 |
19 |
26 |
1000.3 |
2.4 |
| 25/09:01 |
24.0 |
23.7 |
98 |
0.2 |
S |
43 |
56 |
23 |
30 |
1000.1 |
0.4 |
| 25/08:38 |
23.9 |
23.6 |
98 |
0.2 |
SSW |
35 |
54 |
19 |
29 |
1000.1 |
8.6 |
| 25/08:30 |
23.7 |
23.2 |
97 |
0.3 |
SSW |
37 |
50 |
20 |
27 |
1000.2 |
7.8 |
Darwin Airport AWS Obersations
| Date/ Time |
Temp |
Dew Point |
Rel Hum |
Delta-T |
Wind |
Press |
Rain since 9 am |
|
Dir |
Speed |
Gust |
Speed |
Gust |
|
CST |
°C |
°C |
% |
°C |
km/h |
knots |
hPa |
mm |
| 26/04:30 |
26.0 |
24.0 |
89 |
1.4 |
N |
30 |
41 |
16 |
22 |
1003.6 |
52.8 |
| 26/04:00 |
25.3 |
24.3 |
94 |
0.7 |
N |
32 |
41 |
17 |
22 |
1003.3 |
52.8 |
| 26/03:30 |
25.3 |
24.4 |
95 |
0.6 |
N |
30 |
41 |
16 |
22 |
1003.3 |
51.8 |
| 26/03:00 |
25.5 |
24.1 |
92 |
1.0 |
N |
33 |
54 |
18 |
29 |
1003.3 |
50.8 |
| 26/02:51 |
25.6 |
24.0 |
91 |
1.1 |
N |
33 |
54 |
18 |
29 |
1003.3 |
50.8 |
| 26/02:30 |
25.2 |
24.3 |
95 |
0.6 |
N |
33 |
44 |
18 |
24 |
1003.4 |
50.8 |
She then headed west out to sea and then south west into the Bonaparte and looks to die over land in the
Victoria River District as a tropical low.
While a lot might think Monica was a non-event or weak system, after
taking into consideration the damage at Maningrida, Darwin should count
itself lucky that this system didn't make landfall in Darwin as a Category 3,
4 or 5. While the mood in Darwin leading up to Monica was of nervous
anticipation we must not become complacent as before long we will get a
severe tropical cyclone which directly affects us.
