Cyclone Debbie approaching landfall in northeastern Australia on March 28 , 2017 . Image Credit : SSEC / Google Earth
A powerful cyclone came ashore on Australia ’s northeasterly coast on Tuesday , the most intense storm to strike the country in several years . Cyclone Debbie made landfall on the Queensland coast in the south of the town of Bowen , which lies about 300 miles southeast of Cairns . The storm attain land with winds in overindulgence of 120 mph , which would make it the equivalent of a major hurricane on theSaffir - Simpson Hurricane Wind Scaleused in the United States . Debbie bear out as an vivid storm in an outstandingly quiet cyclone time of year in this part of the universe . A storm of this order of magnitude has n’t struck the nation since Cyclone Yasi made landfall south of Cairns in February 2011 .
Cyclone Debbie made landfall in an country that ’s home to nearly 100,000 people , including the Town of Mackay and Bowen . Media reports signal that localemergency reply gang were worriedthat the town of Bowen , which found itself in the cyclone ’s eyewall , would nourish hearty damage from the storm , as many of the Ithiel Town ’s homes and clientele were built before more stringent structure standards were premise in the eighties [ PDF ] . The township of Mackay and its suburb pick up less intense lead from the cyclone , but residents along the coastwere consecrate to evacuatein prediction of a dangerous storm soar upwards .
other reports of damage are few and far between , due to top executive and communications outageswith the hard - hit area . Videos publish online by tempest chasers in the area showdamage to treesand buildings as the tempest arrive ashore .
An infrared planet figure of speech of Cyclone Debbie on March 28 , 2017 . lovesome people of colour indicate higher cloud crown , associated with vivid convection in the cyclone . Image Credit : SSEC
Cyclone Debbie formed under ideal shape that allowed the storm to thrive . ocean airfoil temperatures off the northeastern Australian coast were around 80 ° F , there was sizeable tropic wet to feed the violent storm , and the cyclone encountered almost no air current shear in the upper levels of the atmosphere to disrupt its development . The storm pack advantage of the favorable condition and underwent speedy intensification as it neared the Australian coast early on Tuesday dawn local time . WeatherBELL ’s Ryan Maue report thatsatellite estimatespegged the cyclone ’s peak winds at more than 140 mph at the storm ’s inviolable degree . The storm weakened slightly as it draw near the glide due to an eyewall replacement cycle , a common cognitive process in strong tropic cyclones in which a raw eyewall develops and chokes off the old eyewall , temporarily weakening the storm until the process is complete .
tropic cyclones in the southwestern Pacific Ocean are most common between the months of November and April , though cyclone are possible at any level in the year . The peak of the season coincides with the heat of the summer toward the start of the year . Australia ’s northern coast is vulnerable to major tropical cyclones . The last pregnant cyclone to strike this area of Queensland wasCyclone Marciain 2015 ; the storm caused important harm but gratefully result in no fatality . Debbie endanger to be the strongest storm to make landfall since Yasi back in February 2011 . Cyclone Yasi reached shore with wind of 155 mph , get trillion of dollars in price .
The terminus “ tropic cyclone ” applies to any low - air pressure system of rules that develops over the ocean and fertilize its energy off of electric storm near the center of the system rather than wind high in the atmosphere . Strong tropic cyclones are called “ hurricane ” in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Ocean , “ typhoons ” in the northwestern Pacific Ocean , and just “ cyclones ” everywhere else in the world , admit around Australia . All of the storms arestructurally the same — the only deviation is that they ’re classified a picayune differently based on wind speeds .
