2000–01 Australian region cyclone season

The 2000–01 Australian region cyclone season was a below average tropical cyclone season. It began on 1 November 2000 and ended on 30 April 2001. The regional tropical cyclone operational plan also defines a tropical cyclone year separately from a tropical cyclone season, which runs from 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001.

2000–01 Australian region cyclone season
Season summary map
Seasonal boundaries
First system formed3 December 2000
Last system dissipated23 April 2001
Strongest storm
NameSam
 • Maximum winds205 km/h (125 mph)
(10-minute sustained)
 • Lowest pressure935 hPa (mbar)
Seasonal statistics
Tropical lows9+
Tropical cyclones8
Severe tropical cyclones3
Total fatalities2 total
Total damage$12.8 million (2001 USD)
Related articles

Tropical cyclones in this area are monitored by four Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs): the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in Perth, Darwin, and Brisbane; and TCWC Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.[1]

Season timeline
Cyclone Sam

Systems

Severe Tropical Cyclone Sam
Main article: Cyclone Sam
Category 5 severe tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Category 3 tropical cyclone (SSHWS)
 
Duration3 December – 10 December
Peak intensity205 km/h (125 mph) (10-min)  935 hPa (mbar)

Sam originated from a tropical low that formed in the Arafura Sea on 28 November. Tracking generally westward, the initial low-pressure area remained generally weak until it entered the Timor Sea, by which time it had strengthened into a tropical cyclone on 5 December. Though a subtropical ridge was forcing the cyclone westward at the time,[2] an approaching shortwave trough caused Sam to track southward the following day, towards the Australian coast.[3][4] During its southward progression, Sam rapidly intensified, and reached its peak intensity on 7 December.[2][3][4] The next day, the storm made landfall near Lagrange, Western Australia at the same intensity.[5] Once inland, Sam was slow to weaken as it recurved eastward, and persisted for nearly a week inland before dissipating on 14 December.[4]

Throughout its existence, Cyclone Sam brought heavy rainfall to a wide swath of northern Australia.[3][4] Rainfall peaked at520 mm (20 in) in Shelamar over a 48-hour period ending on 11 December. Upon making landfall, damage was considerable, albeit localized.[4] Most of the destruction wrought by Sam occurred near the coast, particularly in Bidyadanga and Anna Springs Station.[3][4][6] Some buildings sustained considerable damage, and trees and power lines were felled, resulting in some power outages.[2] Offshore, 163 illegal immigrants aboard two vessels were feared to have drowned, which would make Sam one of the deadliest cyclones in Australian history.[2][7] However, these people were later accounted for.[8]

Tropical Cyclone Terri
Category 2 tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
Duration27 January – 31 January
Peak intensity110 km/h (70 mph) (10-min)  975 hPa (mbar)

Terri formed on 27 January 2001 near the northern Kimberley coast. The storm paralleled the coast, reaching Category 2 strength before making landfall near Pardoo early on 31 January. The storm dissipated Late on the same day.[9]

Tropical Cyclone Vincent
Category 1 tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
Duration7 February – 15 February
Peak intensity85 km/h (50 mph) (10-min)  980 hPa (mbar)

Cyclone Vincent formed on 7 February 2001, 900 km northwest of Onslow, Western Australia from an active monsoonal trough. Wind shear prevented the tropical low from intensifying for a few days, but once the storm formed it began to move southeast and intensify. Due to wind shear, Vincent peaked with sustained winds of 85 km/h (50 mph), and did not reach Category 2 intensity.[10] Cyclone Vincent crossed the Western Australia coast as a tropical low, a few kilometres south of Broome, Western Australia.

Tropical Cyclone Winsome
Category 1 tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
Duration8 February – 14 February
Peak intensity75 km/h (45 mph) (10-min)  981 hPa (mbar)

Winsome was a weak system that developed from a low in the Gulf of Carpentaria on 8 February.

Torrential rains produced by the storm in the Northern Territory resulted in severe flooding which killed two people.[11]

Tropical Cyclone Wylva
Category 1 tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
 
Duration14 February – 22 February
Peak intensity75 km/h (45 mph) (10-min)  988 hPa (mbar)

Wylva formed from a low in the Gulf of Carpentaria on 15 February. Wylva briefly became a Category 1 tropical cyclone before making landfall near Booroloola in the morning of 16 February. Even though the system made landfall in a remote area, the remnants of the system caused $13 million in damage and around 700 people had to be evacuated. The remnants of Wylva dissipated on 22 February near Nanutarra.

Tropical Low 10P (07F)
Tropical low (Australian scale)
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
Duration16 February – 16 February (exited basin)
Peak intensity55 km/h (35 mph) (10-min)  1000 hPa (mbar)

This storm moved from Brisbane's area of responsibility into Fiji's on 16 February. It dissipated on the 18th.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Abigail
Category 3 severe tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
 
Duration24 February – 8 March
Peak intensity120 km/h (75 mph) (10-min)  970 hPa (mbar)

On 24 February 2001, Cyclone Abigail formed about 80 km northeast of Cairns, Australia. It then made landfall in Queensland as a Category 1 storm.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Walter
Category 3 severe tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Category 2 tropical cyclone (SSHWS)
 
Duration1 April – 8 April
Peak intensity150 km/h (90 mph) (10-min)  940 hPa (mbar)

Walter was a storm that formed east of Christmas Island and tracked westward at a low latitude.

On 3 April, Cocos Island was placed under a cyclone watch as Walter approached the island.[12] Throughout 5 April, heavy rains and high winds, estimated up to 90 km/h (56 mph) battered the area as Walter bypassed the island.[13]

Tropical Cyclone Alistair
Category 2 tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Category 1 tropical cyclone (SSHWS)
 
Duration15 April – 23 April
Peak intensity110 km/h (70 mph) (10-min)  975 hPa (mbar)

The second most damaging cyclone of the 2000–01 cyclone season, Alistair made landfall close to Carnarvon on 24 April 2001 as a poorly organized cyclone. The centre passed just to the north of town with a wind gust to 67 kilometres per hour from the northeast recorded at 4:11 am. Minimum pressure of 1002.9 hPa was recorded at 5 am, followed by the peak recorded wind gust of 90 kilometres per hour from the southeast at 6 am. A total of 24 mm of rainfall was reported in Carnarvon. Plantations to the north of Carnarvon reported 30-40% crop losses, with wind estimates of 100 to 110 kilometres per hour.[14]

Season effects

This is a table of all of the storms that have formed in the 2000–01 Australian region cyclone season. It includes their duration, names, landfall(s)–denoted by bold location names – damages, and death totals. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a wave, or a low, and all of the damage figures are in 2001 AUD and USD.

Name Dates Peak intensity Areas affected Damages
(AU$)		 Damages
(US$)		 Deaths
Category Wind speed
(km/h (mph))		 Pressure
(hPa)
Sam3 – 10 DecemberCategory 5 severe tropical cyclone205 km/h (125 mph)935 hPa (27.61 inHg)Western AustraliaMinorMinorNone
Terri27 – 31 JanuaryCategory 2 tropical cyclone110 km/h (70 mph)975 hPa (28.79 inHg)Western AustraliaNoneNoneNone
Vincent7 – 15 FebruaryCategory 1 tropical cyclone85 km/h (50 mph)980 hPa (28.93 inHg)Western AustraliaNoneNoneNone
Winsome8 – 14 FebruaryCategory 1 tropical cyclone75 km/h (40 mph)981 hPa (28.96 inHg)Northern TerritoryNoneNone2
Wylva14 – 22 FebruaryCategory 1 tropical cyclone75 km/h (45 mph)988 hPa (29.18 inHg)Queensland, Northern Territory,
Western Australia		NoneNoneNone
10P16 – 16 FebruaryTropical Low55 km/h (35 mph)1000 hPa (29.53 inHg)NoneNoneNoneNone
Abigail24 February – 8 MarchCategory 3 severe tropical cyclone120 km/h (75 mph)970 hPa (28.64 inHg)Queensland, Northern Territory,
Western Australia		NoneNoneNone
Walter1 – 8 AprilCategory 3 severe tropical cyclone150 km/h (90 mph)940 hPa (27.75 inHg)Cocos IslandsNoneNoneNone
Alistair15 – 23 AprilCategory 2 tropical cyclone110 km/h (70 mph)975 hPa (28.79 inHg)New Guinea, Northern Territory,
Western Australia		NoneNoneNone
Season Aggregates
9 systems3 December –
23 April		205 km/h (125 mph)935 hPa (27.61 inHg)$12.8 million2
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See also

References
  2. Padgett, Gary; Kersemakers, Mark; Smith, Carl (December 2000). "December, 2000". Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary. Australiansevereweather.com. Severe Tropical Cyclone Sam (TC-03S). Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  3. Chappel, Lori-Carmen; Bate, Peter W. (November 2002). "The South Pacific and southeast Indian Ocean tropical cyclone season 2000-01" (PDF). Australian Meteorological Magazine. Darwin, Australia: Bureau of Meteorology. 52 (1): 33–47. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  4. Perth Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre. Severe Tropical Cyclone Sam (PDF). Bureau of Meteorology Tropical Cyclone Report (Report). Perth, Australia: Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  5. United States Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Center (2001). Annual Tropical Cyclone Report For 2001 (PDF). Annual Tropical Cyclone Report (Report). Pearl Harbor, Hawaii: Joint Typhoon Warning Center. pp. 199–200, 258, 306. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  6. "Cyclone Sam Lashes Australia Coast". Perth, Australia. Associated Press. 8 December 2000. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  7. "163 Feared Dead in Australian Boat Tragedy". Canberra, Australia. American Broadcasting Channel. 13 December 2000. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  8. Fyfe, Melissa (4 January 2001). "Missing refugees alive, says Ruddock". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. (subscription required)
  9. "Season 2000-2001 Tropical Cyclone TERRI Track Map". australiasevereweather.com. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  10. Meteorology, corporateName=Bureau of. "Tropical Cyclones". www.bom.gov.au. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  11. James Wakelin and Alice Burton (14 February 2001). "Storm chaos: 2 feared dead; High winds lash Top End". Northern Territory News.
  12. "Cocos Cyclone". The Advertiser. 4 April 2001. p. 34.
  13. "Cyclone Walter hits Cocos". The Daily Telegraph. 6 April 2001. p. 17.
  14. "Western Australia Tropical Cyclone Season Summary 2000–01". Bom.gov.au. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
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