Cyclone Yasi coming to Qld

[Cycadcenter]

Cyclone Anthony came ashore last night around Bowen as a Cat 2 cyclone.

Next in line is Cyclone Yasi which looks to be the big one for the year.

Here is a projected path track:

http://www.usno.navy.mil/NOOC/nmfc-ph/RSS/jtwc/warnings/sh1111.gif

Good luck to everyone up the coast.

Bruce

Fallbrook/

Childers

[Daryl]

Cyclone Anthony came ashore last night around Bowen as a Cat 2 cyclone.

Next in line is Cyclone Yasi which looks to be the big one for the year.

Here is a projected path track:

http://www.usno.navy...ings/sh1111.gif

Good luck to everyone up the coast.

Bruce

Fallbrook/

Childers

This one looks a LOT larger than TC Anthony that crossed the QLD coast last night.

Daryl

[Cycadcenter]

Here's what it looks like from the NOAA site:

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

Seems to be defining itself into a pretty massive cyclone.

Bruce

[Tyrone]

That things ginormous. QLD can do without this.130knots just before landing. Mission Beach, Innisfail, Tully are all in its path. I don't think the forests which were decimated by Larry in 06 can handle another monster cyclone. But what can you do????

Best regards

Tyrone

[Mr Cycad]

I don't think the forests which were decimated by Larry in 06 can handle another monster cyclone. But what can you do????

The forests have seen cyclones like this and bigger for millennia.

I worry for the livelihood of everyone in its path (myself included – I don’t really want to move a couple of thousand pot plants inside). There are still roofs that haven’t been rebuilt in Innisfail & the banana industry is struggling as is. Interesting times indeed…

[aussiearoids]

fingers crossed

[Tyrone]

I don't think the forests which were decimated by Larry in 06 can handle another monster cyclone. But what can you do????

The forests have seen cyclones like this and bigger for millennia.

I worry for the livelihood of everyone in its path (myself included – I don't really want to move a couple of thousand pot plants inside). There are still roofs that haven't been rebuilt in Innisfail & the banana industry is struggling as is. Interesting times indeed…

True about the forests. But if you saw the Licuala forest just before Larry and then saw it 18 months after Larry there was definite almost irreparable damage to what was a pristine dark forest before. People will suffer more than the forest though, that's for sure. My thoughts definitely go out to everyone over there.

This has just been posted on a weather site.

'Ugly sister' cyclone menaces Queensland

Monday January 31, 2011 - 12:46 EDTPeople in north Queensland have been warned to expect wind speeds of up to 260 kilometres per hour when a "big, ugly sister" cyclone makes landfall later this week.

Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ), police and weather officials are meeting across the state's far north today to discuss the possible threat of Tropical Cyclone Yasi.

The category one system is north-west of Vanuatu, but is expected to intensify before crossing the Queensland coast on Wednesday or Thursday.

Authorities fear the massive cyclone could be as intense as Cyclone Larry, which devastated parts of far north Queensland in 2006.

Queensland Police says it is the "big, ugly sister" to Cyclone Anthony, which caused only minor damage as it crossed the state's north coast near Bowen, south of Townsville, overnight.

The weather bureau predicts Cyclone Yasi's eye will cross the coast near Townsville, but it says the system is so large it could impact communities 500 kilometres away.

Senior forecaster Jim Davidson says Cyclone Yasi is a big threat.

"It's probably going to be in the category three to category four range - wind gusts up to 200 to 260 [kilometres per hour]," he said.

Mr Davidson is also warning there could be a large storm tide as it crosses the coast either late on Wednesday or early on Thursday.

It will be the second cyclone to hit Queensland this week after Cyclone Anthony made landfall last night.

Cyclone Anthony brought down down trees and caused some minor damage to homes in north Queensland.

It has now been downgraded to a tropical low, heading inland.

Weather bureau spokesman Rick Threlfall says Cyclone Yasi is a large system and is developing quickly

"It's about 2,000 kilometres still east north-east of Bowen, so it's still a long way off, but it's moving west quite quickly," he said.

"We're keeping an eye on that - currently Fiji is monitoring that system and they're looking at bringing that towards the Queensland coast sometime on Wednesday night on on Thursday morning as a significant system.

"It's certainly going to move inland into Queensland during the course of the later part of next week, with fairly widespread rain areas and heavy rain within that as well, so the flooding potential is there.

"Exactly where at this stage is just a bit too difficult to say."

Superintendent Brian Connors from the Cairns Disaster Coordination Centre says the cyclone is very concerning.

"It's better to be over-prepared than under-prepared is the simplest way to put it," he said.

"We are treating it very seriously although there is not defined location that it will direct the impact on at this point in time, but it's best to go through those preparations nice and early."

Queensland Transport Minister Rachel Nolan says coal ports and the rail system avoided damage from Cyclone Anthony, but Yasi is a bigger threat.

"There is some possibility of getting coal ships into Abbot Point today in order to commence loading before they would have to go out again in the next couple of days for the bigger cyclone to come," he said.

"It hasn't been completely decided if that's possible, but there is an aim to do that."

Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ) says full cyclone preparations should be put in place across north Queensland.

EMQ spokesman Wayne Coutts says it is important people are prepared.

"People should consider to be self-sufficient in their home after the impact of such an event after about 72 hours," he said.

"Consider what you might do if you don't have power for about that long, consider what you might do if there's no water, if you're unable to go to the shops."

Townsville Mayor Les Tyrell says Cyclone Anthony was a good test run for the region's emergency services.

"All the preparations we have made for Anthony will just be repeated as we find out what's happening to Yasi as it gets a bit closer," he said.

"Certainly it was a good run for us to threaten any glitches to the system."

Independent state MP Rob Messenger says property owners should be allowed to clear trees before the next cyclone hits.

Mr Messenger says the vegetation management laws provide an exemption when there is a risk of serious personal injury, or damage to infrastructure.

He has called on the State Government to clarify that the exemption applies to cyclone threats.Listen to ABC Local Radio for the latest coverageIn an emergency, call the State Emergency Service (SES) on 132 500Current weather warnings

Best regards

Tyrone

[Moose]

What are the rain predictions for you blokes aside from the wind???

[BS Man about Palms]

Dam! Its been weather nightmares "down under". I hope everyone fares OK.

[ariscott]

What are the rain predictions for you blokes aside from the wind???

It will be heaps of rain, but FNQ is more used to that kind of rain than SEQ - so I think they should be ok rainwise. Just wind damage will be phenomenal since the ground is already saturated from previous rain... Good luck guys, we feel for you....

Regards, Ari

[Cycadcenter]

What are the rain predictions for you blokes aside from the wind???

Saw one set of predictions of 700-800mm or around 30" of rain.

Sure hope it breaks up as it is currently HUGE,

I have some friends around Gladstone and they are ready to bail out with an hours notice and either head down to our farm at Childers or inland.

Bruce

[Lowey]

rain and flooding are bad, but I went through Cyclone Larry, 300km per hour winds, and this thing looks as big if not bigger, God I dont want to go through that again, the destruction was unbeleivable,

Hope all you guys are praying for us.

[fan palm]

hi guys, been following this system for the last few days - its MASSIVE. I have heard quotes of up to 1000mm or rain and 7m storm surge. Just got a Bureau of Meteorology message on my home phone which is telling everyone in low lying coastal areas to evacuate. Just when everything is starting to look good after Larry. Hope everyone in this area have prepered well and stay safe!!

[Miccles]

Best of luck guys and gals... thinking of our northern neighbors. (yet again)

All the best,

Michael.

Edited January 31, 2011 by Miccles

[ariscott]

Batten down the hatches... move your precious seedlings underneath somewhere.... Unfortunately, I think Yasi is coming with a huge force. Now, it is just a matter of where he would actually make a landfall. Be safe guys...

Regards, Ari

[chakoro]

To our brothers in palms in Far North Queensland,You will be in our thoughts over the next few days. We all saw the intense destruction that Larry brought (not to mention the annilation of one of the largest lemurophoenix and main seed source in OZ)

Please stay safe. Craig.

[tank]

Big Time Bummer.

http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ65002.shtml

[Walter John]

North Queenslanders are the toughest hombres in the world, they'll be ready. Good luck, stay low.

[Tyrone]

We'll all be thinking about you guys up there for the next few days and afterwards too. I think we'll be holding our breath as we see it cross on the radar. Keep safe. Batten down the hatches and hold tight.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Dave-Vero]

Yeesh. Our category 1 hurricane followed by a category 3 in 2004 was less than catastrophic, but ruined roofs and some $1 billion in damages in just one modest county is enough.

While our vegetation has survived millenia of hurricanes (which are documented as having hit the Texas coast back in the Cretaceous), the amount of damage in a bad storm can be enormous. We were fortunate in that our 2004 winds were mostly not bad enough to wreck the live oaks (Quercus virginiana). They have extraordinarily dense wood.

[Cycadcenter]

Looks as though it is heading straight for Cairns as a high Cat 4.

Hope you are OK Kurt.

Bruce

[nachocarl]

Stock up on the 4X and stay strong, Aussi Aussi Aussi!

[Tyrone]

Just been looking at it on the IR on the BOM and if you include all the cloud mass from the system, it stretches all the way from the NSW/QLD border to past northern Papua New Guinea. This thing is frightening.

Best regards

Tyrone

[aussiearoids]

Taking a break from shuffling plants around .

One little bonus when shifting some precious things inside ,

was finding a cone on one of the Zamia purpurea seedlings ,

and its a girl ! Lucky I saved some pollen from the recent flowering of the male one

Still calm and have a kilo of ground coffee to keep me going .. what I would give for a hand grinder

[Mike in Nelson]

Just been looking at it on the IR on the BOM and if you include all the cloud mass from the system, it stretches all the way from the NSW/QLD border to past northern Papua New Guinea. This thing is frightening.

Best regards

Tyrone

Yep, it's about the size of the whole New Guinea island. Doesn't look good.

[chris.oz]

Taking a break from shuffling plants around .

One little bonus when shifting some precious things inside ,

was finding a cone on one of the Zamia purpurea seedlings ,

and its a girl ! Lucky I saved some pollen from the recent flowering of the male one

Still calm and have a kilo of ground coffee to keep me going .. what I would give for a hand grinder

Thinking about you and all North Queenslanders. Good luck with this one. I have been hit by a big one and

it brings back memories, but this is a serious system. Lets hope it doesnt get to a Cat 5.

Open the rear windows !!!!

[aussiearoids]

The rear windows are screened in breeze blocks so they cant be closed . This is the view south from my chair at the PC .

[Mr Cycad]

Looks as though it is heading straight for Cairns as a high Cat 4.

Hope you are OK Kurt.

Bruce

Thanks Bruce.

Quite heartening everyones concern.

Just finished moving everything upstairs as well as my plants downstairs on tables. We're potentially up for maybe half of metre storm surge downstairs (the majority of Cairns is very low lying unless you live on the hills). It's going to be interesting. Next door is leaving first light tomorrow for high ground, but we're going to sit it out upstairs (we're about 200mm higher than them). Hopefully we don't loose the roof also... Hope you are alright too down there Michael. This is going to be tense.

[Mr Cycad]

Open the rear windows !!!!

As an Engineer, I can tell you that is not a good idea and a common misconception I hear all the time. Keep everything closed. As soon as you have a pressure change because of an opening (breakage or deliberate etc), thats when things go pear shaped...

[John in Andalucia]

I was just reading about the cyclone on my web tabloid, The Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail...aged-north.html

I really hope those hit by the floods first time around are spared. Not a good start to the year for Queenslanders.

[chris.oz]

Open the rear windows !!!!

As an Engineer, I can tell you that is not a good idea and a common misconception I hear all the time. Keep everything closed. As soon as you have a pressure change because of an opening (breakage or deliberate etc), thats when things go pear shaped...

Kurt,

Well it worked for me in 1971. Many houses lost their roof in Townsville, but we had one broken window. Problem was, we had louvred windows on the front of the house and no shutters. The potential for in leakage was great. At that time few roofs were anchored to the ground as they are now.

Yes well if todays advice is to keep everything shut, then you would have to go by that.

[calyptrocalyx&licuala freck]

To our brothers in palms in Far North Queensland,You will be in our thoughts over the next few days. We all saw the intense destruction that Larry brought (not to mention the annilation of one of the largest lemurophoenix and main seed source in OZ)

Please stay safe. Craig.

Hi guy's Hope you guys are set because this one's HUGE, To all

my fellow F.N.Qers stay safe K....

Oh Craig there's is never been any mature Lemo's in Aussie,

Mark's and Allan's where big that's for sure, but not mature.

Cheers All Mikey. P.S. Open your man Hole guys.. (to The Roof)

[ariscott]

I am very nervous for you guys... please please stay safe. If you don't think your house is coded, go and find another shelter. I work in engineering firm, I know what our houses are engineered for. High cat 4 and/or cat 5, anything could happen... Please be safe.

Michael, board up your windows.... otherwise your house will be covered with mud!!

Regards, Ari

Edited February 1, 2011 by ariscott

[Ken Johnson]

Looks like New Caledonia is in it now.

[Walter John]

SEVERE TC YASI IS A LARGE AND VERY POWERFUL TROPICAL CYCLONE AND POSES AN

EXTREMELY SERIOUS THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY WITHIN THE WARNING AREA,

ESPECIALLY BETWEEN PORT DOUGLAS AND TOWNSVILLE.

THIS IMPACT IS LIKELY TO BE MORE LIFE THREATENING THAN ANY EXPERIENCED DURING

RECENT GENERATIONS.

The Cyclone has now reached CATEGORY 5 and will continue to move in a

west-southwesterly direction during today.

[EllisB]

Take a Cat. 5 very serious. Stay low in bathrooms away from all windows. Good luck to our friends downunder.

[chris.oz]

Not good.

Its about to pass over the Willis Island Radar, directly over the weather station there.

http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR411.loop.shtml#skip

[PalmatierMeg]

Good luck to everyone in the path of this thing. Those of us on the Gulf coast know that OMG feeling when a cat 4/5 storm bears down on us. Hunker down or run as you see fit.

[aussiearoids]

:blink: :blink:

[ariscott]

Good luck Michael..... stay safe!!! Innisfail might get it again unfortunately