Cyclone alert

[Walter John]

Coming to a town near you ?

Cyclone Ului is near New Caledonia and could grow into a Category Five storm.

It will be a few days before it is known what impact the storms could have on Australia and New Zealand.

[ariscott]

Yes... this is a pretty big one!!!

[Paul The Palm Doctor!]

Best of luck, mates.

Paul

[Cycadcenter]

Actually the US Navy has it starting to downgrade it before it has any effect on Qld.

Here is a link to the tracking:

http://www.usno.navy.mil/NOOC/nmfc-ph/RSS/jtwc/warnings/sh2010.gif

Here is another showing the twin cyclones with Fiji getting pounded.

http://www.goes.noaa.gov/sohemi/sohemiloops/shirgmscol.html

Bruce

[Ryland]

I didn't realize you get cyclones down in Australia... I remember having to deal with hurricanes when I lived in Florida. I'm glad we don't have any of those in California, but then again we are constantly in danger of going up in flames, or having an earthquake here.

I hope the storm doesn't batter you too hard down there - good luck.

[Walter John]

Hi Ryland, the fact you didn't know cyclones visit Australia tells me something, and I'm not saying what it is, but for your educational experience, I suggest you google Cyclone Larry+Innisfail and Cyclone Tracy+Darwin for starters.

From the Australian Bureau of Meterology:

TROPICAL CYCLONE INFORMATION BULLETIN

Issued at 4:51am EST on Tuesday the 16th of March 2010

At 4 am EST Tuesday, Severe Tropical Cyclone Ului [Category 4] with central

pressure 945 hPa was located over the north-east Coral Sea near latitude 13.2

south longitude 158.5 east, which is about 1330 km northeast of Mackay and 1450

km east of Cooktown.

The cyclone is moving west southwest at about 4 kilometres per hour.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Ului poses no immediate threat to the Queensland coast

and is expected to remain well offshore over the eastern Coral Sea for at least

the next few days.

It is expected to adopt a more southerly track today which it should maintain

until late in the week.

Edited March 15, 2010 by Greenleaf

[ariscott]

I wonder what happens to FijiJim with cyclone Thomas?? I hope he escapes unharmed...

Regards, Ari

[Tyrone]

Cyclone Uliu could go anywhere by the looks of it. I hope Jim's alright too.

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

Looks like it may come ashore anywhere between Mackay and Townsville.

[fiji jim]

Thanks for your concern Ari and Tyrone.

We were very lucky here that the center of the Tomas stayed to the east of us.

Winds here were 60 to 75 knots for about 48 hours with gusts to about 100knots or about 180 klm per hr.

Scary stuff. Not as intense as Ami was but the duration was incredibly long. Fortunately there was little rain near here so plants were not so susceptible to being blown over.

The south coastal areas received waves of more than 25 feet or about 7 to 8 meters so those places were trashed.

At home we had our nursery stock smacked about and lost palms that were 5 meters and more tall but most smaller stuff was recovered and nothing rare has been lost.

However some plants are still defoliating due to the salt blast and lack of good rains after to wash them clean. We will be cleaning-up for another week or two still but in six months one won't know it happened as regrowth here is fast if we get rain. So far this has been a very dry wet season in our location.

We feel very lucky to have escaped lightly compared to many others in the Lau Islands and Taveuni where whole villages have disappeared.

The emergency departments here did a great job with organising shelter and evacuation and considering the forces of the cyclone the death toll (presently known to be 3) is very low.

Also gratitude must be given to Australia and New Zealand for the quick arrival of their Hercules cargo aircraft with supplies. Many will be lacking food for months to come as crops were totally destroyed in most of the northern region. However we are all still happy to be alive.

So Queenslanders had best batten-down for Ului. Boy scouts motto makes sense. Be prepared. Good luck.

Jim

[ariscott]

Good to hear you are all right, Jim... I am sure everything else will recover very quickly where you are. It is devastating to see the aftermath of a cyclone on a garden that you have been so carefully nurtured. But, at the end of the day, it could've been worse and the important thing is that you are all right.

I don't think Ului will be a major storm by the time it hits the coast. Now it is down to Category 2 and I don't think it will reintensify...

Regards, Ari

[Daryl]

Ului is back up to Cat 3, so still has some sting in its tail, and looks like it will make a direct hit on the Whitsundays.

Daryl

[bubba]

Hate that you have this situation. Hope you are unscathed.Reminds me of what we will be dealing with here August/September etc... Good Luck!

[Tyrone]

It crossed in the Proserpine Airlie Beach area as cat 3, now a Tropical Low. 400mm of rain fell at Finch Hatton inland of Mackay. I wonder what fell at Eungella, and whether it washed the road away up the mountain. I wouldn't want to be on that road in a cyclone. You'd be swept off the road by a wall of water and into a deep ravine.

Tyrone

[TikiRick]

I wouldn't wish a Cyclone or Hurricane on my worst enemy. I hope all you boys down under are okay.

[Tyrone]

I wouldn't wish a Cyclone or Hurricane on my worst enemy. I hope all you boys down under are okay.

Rick, I don't know if we have any Palmtalk members from that area now. There was someone from Mackay or Sarina a few years back in 2005 but I forgot his name. I'd love to hear from him if he's reading this. He had some wild A alexandrae down the road from him if my memory serves me correctly.

Best regards

Tyrone