Each year we get tons of questions about what cyclone occured when and where it went. Yes the database is not complete in that it starts in 1906 and ends in 2007.

http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/silo/cyclones.cgi?region=aus&syear=2006&eyear=2006&loc=0

Click on a start year and then on the end year i.e. 2006 and 2008 and wait for the page to laod to see two seasons worth of data presented in map form with individual cyclones indicated by coloured lines.

Click on a line and it will show you the information about the cyclone, date formed, pressure, wind speed etc. In later track maps the dots along the track map indicated observations and clicking on them will again give you a even more detailed information.

Ahh Pierre, my favourite non threatening TC in that it was in late May.
No windworker SBT?

has there been any cyclones that have impacted the Kingaroy region?

Not in a very long time

I was going to put up the Windworker link but that only deals with Queensland Cyclones and I deliberately wanted this to be an Australian wide resource Boomer but if anyone wants to look at the Queensland Cyclones to 2004 just click on the link.

Combined 101 years of cyclone tracks

Windworker is by no means an exhaustive list though.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/13629530?searchTerm=burketown%20cyclone&searchLimits=
Thats a link to a newspaper article about one in the gulf.
I know a fair bit about this one, (March 1887) which destroyed Burketown and Kimberly (the old telegraph station, now named Karumba) and bits of normanton. Mostly because, my ancestors were there....my g.g.g.g aunt, and her 2 infant sons were washed away in the storm surge, while her husband, a policeman, was away in normanton. It's all detailed in the article (she's the "Higman" woman.)
They found one kids body high in a tree, and another, days later, miles down the albert.

I know it isn't Boxey but it is the best resource that I could find and as I said above only covers Queensland until 2004. That there will be ommisions is a given as there was no offical reporting process for many years and yes that will mean cyclones will not be recorded.

The BoM only became an entity on 1 Jan 1908. Before that each state and colony was responsible for recording their own met data. Some of this has been transfered but a great deal of it isn't available as it is in state archieves and isn't online.

Any records from previous state organisations would have to be researched and collated into a database. Good luck getting that done without an act of Parliment. You also have to look at reporting prior to 1908. Most out lying areas relied on shipping to carriy reports back to state captitals.

Do they accept additions? I could send them the link. If I was a writer, I'd write a book about that cyclone. Not only are the newspaper reports an amazing read, I also have the policemans file...which includes letters about how the body of the baby was discovered up the albert, telegrams etc. Really moving stuff.

I don't know Boxey you would have to write to them and find out. http://www.bom.gov.au/other/feedback/ is their feedback page. I am pretty sure that they would be interested in whatever you could supply regarding the event. As a matter of fact I would be very interested in it as well. PM sent.

Huh...just found a bit of a spiel on the bom site....it is under the history bit, but the GOC part.
This is it - http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/history/gulf.shtml
"5 March 1887 From all reports, the storm surge from the disastrous 1887 cyclone, flooded almost all of Burketown. Only the highest part of town, near where the Council Office is currently located, escaped the waters from the Gulf of Carpentaria. A copy of a 1918 report to the Queensland Parliament from the Department of Harbours and Rivers Engineers refers to the sea rising to 5.5 metres above the highest spring tide level at the Albert River Heads. This level is about 8 metres above Australian Height Datum. 7 people out of a population of 138 died in the cyclone. Storm winds commenced at 11 am from the SE and backed to the E and the NE increasing in violence until 10 pm when virtually the whole of Burketown was devastated. The storm surge arrived at 7 pm."

Did you PM me, SBT? It hasn't showed up if so.

PM sent 12.05

Been busy clearing out 40 odd spammers from my forum. lol.

Thats a pretty dry (no pun intended) report and if you could add some colour to it from first hand accounts it would make a great read.

Boxsey, yep that TC certainly happened. I am extremely interested in that time frame in and around Burketown both weather and human wise.
I am deep in throes of writing a book about that region within that time frame. In particular, I am after notable weather events in late October 1889 that pushed inland to Lawn Hill station (the 27th to be exact LOL... but there other dates). Any info from the1860s to 1892 both weather and human wise would be greatly appreciated
FYI Boxsey, Burketown was also wiped out in the 1860s when cerebral malaria devastated the town and caused an evacuation to Sweers Island (it has also been smashed by TC's several times in its history).
It would be greatly appreciated if anybody with any further information could PM me.
PS Great thread SBT
PPS Boxsey (I will PM you)... keep digging in Trove... you will find more, it's a brilliant resource

Here's a really good account of Boxsey's TC (2000+ words)
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/...n&searchLimits=

Great people are interested!

I did a lot of research into Burketown over a decade ago....when I found my family connection to the area. I had worked in the area for a year...with no clue of my connection. When i found it, I was fascinated. So, I knew about the "ague" that decimated the population in the 1860's, and had them move to sweers.
All my stuff is copies made from microfilm. Some of it is now digitised an available at the above link. Haven't found all of it on there though...most of it's repeated word for word though in each newspaper.
This, from normanton...http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/3464661?searchTerm=normanton%208th%20March%20&searchLimits=
"The Assistant Engineer-in-Chief for Har-
bours and Rivers received the following
telegram, dated Normanton, 8th March, from
Mr. E. A. Cullen, nautical surveyor, who is
carrying out surveys in the Gulf of Carpen-
taria :-"A fresh gale from the northward oc-
curred on Saturday with heavy rain squalls:
the barometer indicated 29.84in. at its lowest.
There was a very heavy sea running, and a
remarkable high tide. This tide was 2ft. 6in.
higher than the highest tide of last year. The
beacon in the channel is gone, and the pilot
boats were washed away. I shall have to
again examine the channel through the banks,
to determine if outer banks have shifted. The
weather is still bad, but the sea is not so heavy,
and the winds are moderate. "

Excellent work Boxey. Might be a good subject for a wiki entry if WZ had a wiki that is.

I just used a converter....29.84inches is 1010.49. Doesn't sound right, does it?

the last cylone to affect Kingaroy would have been during the 1890s when most of SEQ went underwater from three cyclones in succession.

SBT.... a mate of mine may have a copy of a list put together by a former BOM boss and is trying to track it down.
It does apparently include the 1887 Burketown event.
On that event I hereby put forward the motion that hereafter the unnamed be named on WZ as TC Boxsey or TC Higband in honour of Boxsey's ancestors who died in the storm.

LOL. Yeah, I found a reference to it on the BOM site...(see above).
I will work on putting together what I have and posting a seperate thread to keep it all together for prosperity's sake. May take some time.

Good stuff Boomer. Hmm how to confuse people by unoffically renaming cyclones but what the hell yeah TC Boxey sounds pretty good. Lol

I vote for TC Higman, in honour of the dead rellies!

We'd certainly be interested in any material that anyone's collated on pre-1908 TCs - there hasn't been any serious effort yet to develop a database of such events (trying to get the post-1908 database in vaguely decent shape was quite challenging enough) but it's possible there may be one in the future.

By "we", you mean the weatherzone community, don't you? I'll pull some stuff together. Today, I managed to convert the relevent to the burketown cyclone bits of my ancestors police record into an adobe acrobat format. Will think about how best to somehow compile it, and newspaper cuttings etc, into something useful. In the meantime, if anyone wants to read it (It is all in old fashioned cursive, and takes a wee bit of effort) just PM me your email and I'll forward it on. Nothing in the police record about the actual weather....just the aftermath for this individual, who lost his wife and kids, and the description of how the babys body was found days later up the albert etc.
Otherwise, the newspaper articles of the time I've collated...almost all the info in them is now in the NLA online archive, and searchable...so shouldn't be hard to put something together?

I think there may be debate as to wheather these were infact true tropical cyclones, or other monsoonal lows, troughs, eastcoast lows, etc.

..and that's a question which may well be unanswerable with 1893's observations.

When I said 'we' I actually meant the Bureau's TC researchers (which I've been one of from time to time - I had a fair bit to do with the post-1908 database), though I'm sure WZ would be interested too.

Collating historical information (of the sort you've discussed with the Burketown cyclone) is one thing, getting enough information to be able to put an estimated track into a database is another, but that doesn't mean the first activity isn't valuable.

Yeah, I got nothing on tracks...though i think an article does mention an eye....will have to re read, and that there was a lot of concern for escott station, which "was right in the path of the storm"...but escott's not far from burketown anyway.
julie

Just wondering....would it be ok if I started a new thread just for the old burketown cyclone, and just added stuff to the thread as I can get it digitised??? If so, where should I put the thread? I'm thinking it would be the easiest way to get it out there so it would be picked up on google?

Boxey, Click on the Tropical and Low title at the top of the page. It will then display a list of all the threads within this thread.

Then click on New Topic.

It will open a new page and then just fillin the title and place some text in the Input area.
Click Submit and you have a new Topic within this forum.

yeah just start up a new thread in this forum boxsey.

Late october 1889... there was a recorded storm at Lawn Hill ... any further info appreciated

Boomer i will do some research and see what i can find.
From Trove: Yes I just signed up as wobblywombat.
Courier Mail (Brisbane) newspaper article Friday 16 March 1934

HEAVY TOLL
Earlier Disasters

Recalled

The reports of the heavy damage to property and the appalling loss of life following in the wake of the cyclone which has swept along the coast of the northern part of the State recalls such tragic disasters as Sigma and Lconta, which devastated Townsville and Bowen in 1896 and 1903 respectively, the wrecking of Innisfail In March, 1917, by a fierce hurricane, and the cyclone which visited Mackay in Janu- ary of the same year.

The dread of these death-dealing cataclysms is always with the residents of the coastal areas of Queensland from Mackay northwards at this time of the year, for the terrifying experiences of past visitations are imprinted on their memories. All four catastrophes mentioned occurred well within the memory of many North Queens land residents of today and they
describe the horrors of those days with reluctance.

WRECK OF BANSHEE.

The Queensland coast is visited regularly by these "blows." and it is interesting to recall the fiercest. In 1876 the Banshee was totally wrecked in a heavy gale off Townsville and seventeen lives were lost. This was followed by a terrific cyclone in Cairns two years later, which destroyed much property. A hurricane which hit-Bowen in 1884 unroofed nearly the whole town and completely wrecked many places. Five people were killed and damage was done to nearly every building In Burketown by a heavy cyclone in 1887, following which the coast was free from serious storms for nine years. In 1898 occurred Sigma, which caused a great deal of damage over a wide area about Townsville.

300 LIVES LOST.

The year 1899 will be remembered for the hurricane which affected nearly every part of North Queensland. A pearling fleet was destroyed and 300 lives were lost at Bathurst Bay, Nearly the whole of Townsville was wrecked in the Leonta visitation in 1903, and many residents lost their lives. Three years later both Cairns and Croydon were devastated by hurricanes, and in the following year, 1907, damage amounting to £20,000 was caused at Cooktown. A spell of four years was broken by the storm in which the Yongala was lost between Mackay and Townsville with 140 persons aboard

Record floods at Innisfail and Cairns accompanied the hurricane of 1913, and the Innamincka was stranded on Alexander Reef. Late in the same year Thursday Island had Its fiercest blow In 14 years, and considerable damage was done on the island. Thirty lives were lost In a violent hurricane which struck Rockhampton and Mackay in 1918. Property worth over £1 000,000 was destroyed at Mackay, where a tidal wave also occurred.

WHEN INNISFAIL WAS RAZED.

Innisfail was razed a couple of months later by a cyclone Which passed across Cape York Peninsula. Chillagoe and Mareeba suffered in a tropical cyclone disturbance In 1920; and at Molloy, 8O miles north of Cairns, almost all the houses, in- cluding the post office, were blown down.

The Douglas Mawson was wrecked during a cyclone in March 1923, and 16 lives were lost. Four years later Cairns was wrecked, but in the last seven years the coast has had a fortunate freedom from cyclones of a seri- ous nature.

Editted copy of the text transcript from Trove.

Man, I love the Trove site. Just signed up myself last night, as it had mangled one of the newspaper articles I wanted to c&P. I searched Lawn Hill and 1889, but no luck. Adels Grove? Gregory Downs perhaps?

Boomer, about the only notable thing was the Joe Flick incident but no storms reported in Newspapers that i can find. I will keep digging.

Boxey, you can edit the text by Fixing it. Pretty easy to do. Just read the old newspaper page and then work out what they where trying to say before the program that scanned the page screwed it up.

Yeah, I did edit it, could read the newspaper fine, but the scan to text program was mangled. Now, I can cut and paste it easy, since i fixed it. I could get addicted to reading old newspapers.

Yeah I feel I'm too late as I'm already am hooked to Boxey. I found several articles about heavy rains in the end of October to December 1889 around the area you are looking for Boomer but nothing of note recorded in any Queensland newspapers which is strange because they have a pretty good summary of monthy storms/rainfalls all over the state.

I'm not saying that a storm didn't occur in the area you are looking at just that there is nothing recorded in any newspapers that I can find. Maybe worth while writing to the shire historical society (if they have one) and see what they have.

http://www.burkeshirecouncil.com/contact.htm is the contact details for the shire council.

I think Burketown pretty much lost all it's records in a fire a long time ago. Used to have a friend working in the office there. They don't even know where the cyclone victims are buried, (not even where, let alone which plot) because everything was lost. At least, that's how I remember it....i was looking for stuff 15 year ago.

SBT/Boxsey... Thanks so much for your efforts. The particular storm I am chasing relates directly to the Joe Flick incident (Flick had already killed Sen Const Wavell and shot Frank Hann... who survived... he would kill another later). Flick did eventually escape under cover of it. " Towards evening a fearful storm arose and we thought that Flick would slip away under cover of the storm. During a lull, however we heard a tin fall inside the building, and I (Frank Hann) ordered a general fusillade.''
It doesn't really matter that it wasn't officially recorded... it was probably just a typical Gulf build up storm... would have been nice if it had more significance tho (eg a TC!).

2 hours work going crosseyed reading poorly scanned newspaper article came up with the article below.

CYCLONES IN QUEENSLAND SINCE 1867.

The following is a list of cyclones, which have occurrod in Queensland since 1857.
Compiled from the official
record is in the possesion of the Department of Meteorolgy. Melbourne By the "Courier"
1867. — March 3 and 4 Severe Hurricane on the coast , north-east to port Dennison.
March 8 Hurricane at Townsville, heavy rain and many houses demolished.
April 26 - 28: Bris- bane -Warick, hurricane and floods; Great damage over large area.
1870. _ January 30: Hurricane in the Bowen district, accompanied by heavyrains; greater damage than that of the hurricane of 1867.
February 30: Townsville - Bowen, terrific cyclone; heavy floods; nearly every house in Townsville, and nearly every house in Townsville damaged, and several ships wrecked.
1873 Cyclone at Bundaberg.
1874- September 27; Hurricane in the Morton District several houses destroyed and others unroofed.
1875. — March 26: violent gales at Capt Moreton and along the coast; heaviest known for years .
1876.— February 17: Townsville. violent gales ; heavy weather along the coast gener- ally.
March 21 Townsville. heavy gale SS Banchee wrecked. with loss of 17 persons.
June 18: Cooktown, hurricane of violent force. —
1877.- February 2 : Jonongarie - Albert River, fearful hurricane causing much damage. —
March 5: Terrific cyclone at Cairns much property destroyed.
1879.— January 2-12: Hurricane at Cooktown and off the coast to Norfolk Island.
June 24.26: Cyclone at Brit bane: much damage done In Southern Queensland.
1880— January 26: Severe gale along the whole Queensland coast, accom panied by heavy rains for several days.
1882.— February 2: Cyclone at Card well. considerable damage being done 1884. —
January 80: Hurricane at Bowen nearly every house in the town unroofed, and many completely de stroyed.
February 21: Cooktown. very heavy gale.
1887.—March 4: Cyclone at Burketown.
March 12: Further cyclone at Burketown; five persons killed and nearly every building in town damaged.
October I5: Burketown severe gale: considerable damage in the town.
1888.— February 17: .Mackay. heavy gale; two steamers wrecked and several houses demolished.
December 22: Mt. Morgan, cyclone; English Church and other buildings destroyed.
1889.— July 17: Brisbane heavy floods, caused by passage of cyclone from northe east.
1890.--Januarry 28 to Febuaury 1: Cyclone off the coast or Queensland, heavy storm at sea.
March24: Hurricane at Townsville-
March 29: Terrific cyclone at Herbert.
1891. — June 8: Brisbane, hurricane, with heavy rains. Considerable damage caused.
1832.— January 2: South Queensland, severe Gale; several buildings demolished In Brisbane district.
April 2: Brisbane, cyclone: several buildings blown down. snd. one steamer disabled
December 28: Normanton. cyclone: townshlip buildings much damaged.
1893.January 21-22: Brisbane cyc Ione, several houses and many trees blown down.
February 17: Sandgate cyclone off the coast, much damage caused to town. —
January 26-27. Townsville. hurricane, resulting tn 201n of rain In three days; much damage over a wide area.—
February 4: Mackay. severe cyclone causing widespread damage.
1899. — March 5. North Queensland severe hurricane: pearling fleet de stroyed: 300 lives lost at Bathurst Bay.
April 3-6. cyclone along coast of South Qweensland.
1903.— March 9: Townsvllle and Bowen, hurricane: Townsville nearly completely wrecked.
l906. January 28: Cairns, severe hurricane: town devastated. March 4: Croydon. township wrecked by hurricane.—
January 19; Cooktown. hurricane; damage estimated at £20.000 1908.—
January 7-11 cyclone passed alone the coast resulting In heavy gales.
February 16: Chlligoe Barcaldine. heavy cyclone; £1000 damage at Chlllagoe and many buildings unrooted or demolished at Barcaldine.-.
March. 12: Hurricane at Broadsound.
1909— Februury 3-5: Normanton,cyclone; severe damage to township throughout the Gulf.
February 19. Cunuamulla and Thargomindah, cyclone, causing local damage.
1910.— January 21: Aramac -cyclone. several houses blown down.
1911.— February 10: Port Douglas, cyclone; much damage to town
March 16: Port Douglas. Cairns, and Inisfail hurricane; severe damage at cairns, practically all buildings damaged at Hort Douslas and two lives lost. March 28-24: Flat Top- Island, severe gale; SS. Yongala lost.
1912. — January 8: Rosedale (near Longreach), cyclone, accompanied by Heavy rain: many trees uprooted.
April 6-7: Innlsfall. cyclone, with heavy rain; several houses wrecked.
April 16: Hurricane off coast from Brisbane.
November 8-11: Charlevillle. Cyclone which demolished buildings at several towns.
December 23-25: Lango Crossing Artamac. etc., cyclone lasting for two hours severe damage.
1913— January 29 to February 4: — Cairns to Darwin hurricane struck coast between Cooktown and Card well, and traversed to Darwin, severe damage at Cairns and Inisfail.
December 31: Thursday Isand. tropical cyclone, fiercest in 14 years. Severe damage at Roper River.
1915.— February6-9: Cyclone, with heavy rain, off coast south from Bow en. Considerable damage at Bowen.
December 8-10: Mackay. severe cyclone; iron telegraph posts bent almost double; many roofs damaged.
1916- — April 11-14: Central and south Queensland coast, cyclone and heavy rains.
December 27: Mackay, hurri cane, with very heavy rain , wide spread floods, causing loss of life.
1918.— January 20-22: Mackay and Rockhampton. violent humcane: 30 lives lost: damage at Mackay estimated at £1,000,000 tidal wave followed wind.
March 9-10: Innlsfail Hurricane crossed York Peninsula, causing much damage at Innlsfall.
1919.— December 17: Warwick. cyclonic storm : house wrecked and several unroofed.
1920.— February 2- Chillagoe Mareeba and Molloy. cyclone and floods: half the houses at Chillago blown down; at Molloy nearly all the houses Including the post office, demolished.
February 2-6: Port Douglas and Croydon Severe hurricane with heavy rain.
March 29 to April 6: Cooktown two boats sunk off Flinders Group and several dismasted
April 2- 6 Bundaberg. cyclone considerable damage.
1923.— January 1S-2S: York Peninsular. cyclonic storm. with heavy rain.
March 28: Gulf of Carpentaria, cyclone, with very heavy rain. SS Douglas Mawson wrecked.
April 27-30: South Coast of Queensland. Cyclonic storm, with verv heavy rain.
1924 . — January 1: Wlnton and Longreach buildings damaged and trees uprooted One man fataly injured.


DISTRIBUTION OF CYCLONES. The distribution of cyclones in Queensland for each month during the period under review is as follows: —
Janurary. 33;
February. 27:
March 32;
April. 14;
May. 6;
June, 8;
July 7
August. 0;
September. 5:
October 4;
Novembor, 2;
December. 1

Ommisions, incorrect transcriptions etc could be possible so please check the original article found at : http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/60735093

Great work guys ..

You have probably read , Cyclone , By Hector Holthouse ,
Published by Rigby 1971 ...

But if not its a great read and a few good plates/ photos .

Cheers

Was surprised when going through that list with the June and even july cyclones. then realised that all the ones I noticed affected Brisbane. ie. one has to understand the inability back then to distinguish between a true cyclone and a strong ECL.

Wow, three hits for Burketown in 1887. That has to be some kind of record. Great job SBT

Interesting stuff. The list has the burketown one on the 4th, but it was definately the 5th of march. And, a few lines above it....has same date, 5th march 1887, with a cyclone hitting cairns. I wonder if the dates are a bit confused, or if a cyclone crossed from the east coast, into the gulf, and came back down to hit burketown. Probably not as likely......

Only just saw that boomer. I doubt the march 14 one was a seperate cyclone....it's more likely the same march 5th one, otherwise there would have been more on it in the papers. The october one though...does that tie in with dates for flick??????

Yes Brett and there are a couple a long way inland from the coast that I suspect are actually tornados but without offical records or observations by trained Met Officers we will probably never know.

To point that out have a look at the distribution of "cyclones/hurricanes" by month at the end of teh article and then look at the ones reported in the middle of the year.

May is a possibility but June/July Sep/Oct? Not these days thats for sure.

But I am just researching what lists have been compiled I am not in a position to prove or disprove any of the records.

That is the job of the BoM.

No Boxsey, the shootout happened on October 27/28 1889. There is no doubt a storm happened that night, but as I say probably just a Gulf build up one. A low or a low in an early monsoonal trough is also possible. I have several accounts of the incident from newspapers, diaries and police reports. It certainly happened. I will probably run with the latter for dramatic effect (it allows me to bring the Burketown saga of 1887 into the frame and for me get my rocks off dramatising the monsoon.... artistic license... it is after all historical fiction... if I cannot be certain after exhausting the research, but a particular scenario is entirely possible, then its legit).
SBT, is that a typo re the 1887 TC in Cairns (very high rainfall that year). Only reason I ask is that in your order it looks like it should be 1877.

Yep you are right, two errors with dates and I have fixed them in the Trove article but way passed the time for me to be able to edit my post so I will need a Mod to go in and fix it for me.

Fixed - Thanks BNE.

It is starting to look like I have opened a Pandora's Box whith this thread. oh well I needed a new hobby.

Nice little retrospective

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/...7&searchLimits=
PAST CYCLONES'
HEAVY TOLL Courier Mail 1934
Earlier Disasters
Recalled
The reports of the heavy damage to property and the appalling loss of lifefollowing in the wake of the cyclone which has swept along the coast of the northern part of the State recalls such tragic disasters as Sigma and Lconta,which devastated Townsville and Bowen in 1896 and 1903 respectively the wrecking of Innisfail In March,1917, by a fierce hurricane, and the
cyclone which visited Mackay in Janu-ary of the same year.The dread of these death-dealingcataclysms is always with the residents of the coastal areas of Queensland from Mackay northwards at this time of the year, for the terrifying experi-
ences of past visitations are imprinted on their memories.
All four catas-trophes mentioned occurred well with-in the memory of many North Queensland residents of to-day and they de>scribe the horrors of those days with
reluctance.
WRECK Oi BANSHEE.
The Queensland coast is visited regularly by these "blows." and it is in-teresting to recall the forecast. In 1876 the Banshee was totally wrecked in a heavy gale off Townsville and seven-teen lives were lost. This was followed by a terrific cyclone in Cairns two years later, which destroyed much pro-perty.
A hurricane which hit-Bowenin 1884 unroofed nearly the whole town and completely wrecked many places. Five people were killed and
damage was done to nearly every build'lng In Burketown by a heavy cyclone in 1887, following which the coast was free from serious storms for nine
years.
In 1898 occurred Sigma, which caused a great deal of damage over awide area about Townsville.300 LIVES LOST.
The year 1899 will be remembered for the hurricane which affected nearly
every part of North Queensland. A pearling fleet was destroyed and 300lives were lost at Bathurst Bay, Nearlythe whole of Townsville was wrecked
in the Leonta visitation in 1903, and many residents lost their lives.
Three years later both Cairns and Croydon were devastated by hurricanes, and in the following year, 1907, damage amounting to £20,000 was caused at
Cooktown.
A spell of four years . 'as broken by the storm in which the yongala was lost between Mackay and Townsville with 140 persons aboard
Record floods at Innisfail and Cairns accompanied the hurricane of1913, and the Innamincka was stranded on Alexander Reef. Late in
the same year Thursday Island hadIts fiercest blow In 14 years, and con-siderable damage was done on the
island.
Thirty lives were lost In a vio-lent hurricane which struck Rock-hampton and Mackay in 1918. Pro-perty worth over £1 000,000 was de-stroyed at Mackay, where a tidal wave
also occurred.
WHEN INNISFAIL WAS RAZED.
Innisfail was razed a couple of months later by a cyclone Whlchf passed across Cape York Pen-insula. Chillagoe and Mareeba suf-fered in a tropical cyclone disturbance
In 1920; and at Molloy, GO miles north of Cairns, almost all the houses, in-cluding the post office, were blown
down.
The Douglas Mawson was wrecked during a cyclone in March 1923, and16 lives were lost. Four years laterCairns was wrecked, but in the last seven years the coast has had a fortu-
nate freedom from cyclones of a seri-ous nature.

Pandoras box indeed SBT. I've sat on this story of my policeman and the cyclone for...about 15 years. Long before the interwebs existed in my house, anyway. Did all the research by microfiche. Always wanted to share it somehow...just never got around to it. Perhaps by doing my burketown thread, those into weather will enjoy the cyclone bits, and I'm keeping all the personal stuff in too...mostly so that if anyone googles the names of my rellies as part of their own family tree research...they'll find it all. Hence why I want to include pics of the documents and list my sources.
I swear, I go into "flow" whenever I start doing anything with it. Will break for the night and get my real life organised!

Trove http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/46076232?searchTerm=Townsville Cyclone Althea&searchLimits=


First hand account from Cyclone Althea: Australian Womans Weekly 19/1/72

THE YEAR CHRISTMAS NEVER CAME
READERS STORIES OF THE CYCLONE IN NORTH QUEENSLAND
STEEL power poles bent by the wind on Stanley Bridge, Townsville.
FAY PAGE and her husband were living in their almost-completed home in the quiet resort of Balgal Beach, 30 miles north of Towns- ville, when North Queensland's worst cyclone struck. She jotted down quick notes during the lull in the eye of the cyclone and again near the storm's end, and later sat down and wrote this account:

"I wondered for the hundredth time just how much more could the building and we-take"

THURSDAY, December 23.

It was mid afternoon when we heard for the first time of the Weather Bureau's report that Cyclone Althea was 380 miles north-east of Bowen and heading in a westerly direction. By the time we returned home
that night it seemed we might expect a visit. By 9 p.m. we had secured everything possible around the house, yard, and garage. Winds had begun to blow a bit. By 10.45 we had a power failure. Lights came on again some time around midnight but were off again by 3 a.m. Heavier gusts were now beginning to whip
around the house and occa- sional vibrations were felt through our second-storey floor.

Christinas Eve, 5 a.m. Winds now gaining intensity so moved bedding to ground floor and awaited daylight. By 8.30 Cyclone Althea had well and truly arrived.
Storming in from a south- westerly direction, she unleashed her fury upon our small beach resort. The bullets of pure wind-fury came in regimented attacks every few minutes. The sounds of their approach sent cold shivers up our tensed bodies as we heard them approaching over the surrounding foliage with a noise
not unlike the roar of a mighty diesel locomotive.

Our home is an A-frame construction, with the roofing iron in 29ft. lengths which reach right to the ground. (We chose this type of home after seeing two A-frame houses which withstood Cyclone Ada in the Whit- sundays two years ago.)

Held on to door
The winds pounded on our fibro back wall and along the southern side of the roof. We had opened the front windows and it took the two of us to hold the twin glass doors at the front from flying out under the strength of the vortex created as the "bullets" hit.

Standing holding those glass doors gave us a first-hand view of the wind's mighty fury.
Trees were being bent right to the ground and then lashed back up into the air and twisted around as
another gust attacked them.

Wattle trees cracked like matches under the strain; while the tall box-top gums took the might of the blows surprisingly well, but the downfall of many was when flying debris built up on their branches and the extra weight proved too much and down they would crash.

Our back wall, which was still copping the main part of the blow, was actually bowing in a good six inches (we had completed only half of the second-storey flooring, and nothing was tying in the back wall internally). The strong 6in. x 2in. 'beams that run from the cement floor at the base of the house right up to the roof (at intervals of 3ft.) were folding in anything up to eight or nine inches on the southern side and belling out the same amount on the opposite side of the house.
Every new bullet of wind would make the house really shudder and tremble. And we wondered just how much more any manmade building could take (especially as we had constructed this building by ourselves!).
Such was the amount of noise and chaos around us that the only way we could manage to hear our transistor radio was to turn it up full volume and hold it jammed tight against our eaT - even then it was extremely diffi- cult.
The weather report at 9.30 a.m. said that the cyclone was expected to cross the coastline between Cardwell and Rollingstone between 10 a.m. and 12 noon - and then was spotted to hit most likely around Halifax Bay to Cape Cleveland.

Brown breakers
lf this was correct, with our winds so terrible at this stage, I wondered if we would ever survive by the time "she" really arrived. For after being caught out on Hook Island during the devastating Cyclone Ada, I knew the mighty, fanatical strength of the winds in a bad cyclone.
From our second floor we were able to view the sea during breaks in the bullets of wind - and what a sight! Mighty masses of dirty brown, wind-lashed breakers followed one another in,* to beat their might and fury out against the beach and trees that valiantly struggled to hold up against the onslaught The white feathery tops of the waves.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/55475708

Burketown Cyclone 19/1/77 (90 Years after the Cyclone Boxey is researching Burketown was again hit by another cyclone)
A TOWN
WITHOUT PANIC
How the people of Burketown braved Cyclone Ted
Buildings couldn't stand up to the fury of the cyclone, but the spirit of the people could.
Only 36 hours after it was over Liane Maxwell found them rebuilding.
As TOWNSFOLK sheltered in the local hotel it seemed as if an angry giant was at work outside . . . picking up whatever lay in its path then tossing it aside like an abandoned toy. That's how police sergeant Brian Johnston visualised the savage mauling tiny Burketown (pop 250), in the Gulf of Carpentaria, received at the hands of Cyclone Ted. Tiny it may be, but what Burketown lacked in size it made up for in spirit in the face of the cyclone's fury. Nobody panicked - although there were silent prayers - even when the hotel
buckled, but held. Kindergarten teacher Andrea Bowring sang Christmas carols at the height of the storm. It kept everyone's spirits up and took the children's minds off the destruc- tion going on outside.

During the storm roofing tin was flung into the air like paper, timber and power poles snapped like matchsticks. Huddled together on the ground floor of the hotel, the 250 residents of the town could hear windows being smashed upstairs and furniture flung about.

"Then the roof began lifting." Sgt Johnston said. "We couldn't see what was happening, but we could hear the metal being torn away."
"The ceiling above us began to sag as it filled with water. Finally, it broke through into the kitchen. Fortunately, the area had already been evacuated. We were all crowded into the public bar.
"The walls around this area are over a foot thick and it seemed the safest place to shelter.
"Then the door leading to the kitchen

Beginning again ... began to buckle against the force of the wind and rain slashed through the hole in
the kitchen roof. "Every eye in the room was riveted on that door. I think the same thought was going through everyone's mind ... if that door goes, we've had it. "But through some miracle it stood up to the battering. "By this time we were up to our ankles in water. The mattresses where the children were bunked down were saturated, but the children didn't complain. "Everyone was incredibly calm."
It was a calmness that didn't waver from the time Sgt Johnston and his offsider. Constable Geoffrey Kreutzer, first alerted the population. Within one and a half hours of receiving the radio message, they had organized gangs of men to warn the 250 residents and get them assembled in the most solid building - the local pub.
Aborigines in outlying settlements were also brought into the hotel. "By the time the cyclone hit us late
Sunday afternoon the town's electricity supply was shut off to avoid any deaths by electrocution," Sgt Johnston said.

"The younger children were fed and bedded down for the evening on almost wall-to-wall mattressing on the ground floor of the hotel. Many of them actually slept through the whole ordeal.
"We rigged up a 240-volt generator in I the hotel so we could keep the lights on] whatever happened and I'm sure this took away a lot of the terror - especially for the little ones.
"The womenfolk cooked up a huge pot of stew in the hotel kitchen to feed to the hungry brigade of workers who spent the day battling against pelting rain and driving winds battening down and securing every loose object in the town.
"There would have been a great deal more wreckage if everyone hadn't pitched ' in and lent a hand to tie the town down.
"Gangs of men transferred food from the local store to the hotel.
"Our communications with the outside world were severed about five o'clock. "The first really big blow started just on dark. You couldn't stand up outside. From inside the hotel we could see roofs being I peeled back like the lids on sardine cans.
"The 100-year-old shire hall went down I in a heap.
"By 11.30 pm it was all over. There were no injuries - not even a scratch."
Sgt Johnston said of the town's women: "They were terrific. All through it they kept making cups of tea and coffee. It was great for morale.
"They couldn't have been better organized. They even had powdered milk and baby bottles on hand."
Thirty-six hours after the cyclone the Women's Weekly team touched down at Burketown Airport, aboard an RAAF Caribou delivering a generator and other essentials. Cleaning up operations were well under way. Although many families were homeless

What a difference a century makes.....36 hours later, help arrives. And, at least they would have known where the highest bit of land is. That has to be the same pub I frequented....and let me tellya....I wouldn't want to have it as the safest option in a cyclone.

Huh....i told hubby about them all sheltering in the pub, and that I'd hate to do it...but he reminded me that it may have been my eyes not working properly whenever i saw the pub...and, looking at pic's, perhaps it is more solid than I remember. It was always wobbly when I was there.

Is this list any different to what you allready have? A brief look tells me it is...
Cairnscyclones.doc

does anyone use www.australiansevereweather.com ??

has a special cyclone page, with seasonal tracks of the early 1900's from b.o.m, and all the others.

Yes Boxey it is and it isn't at the same time. Some of the reports are almost word for word and others have cyclones in one report and not the other. So I am going to wade through it over a weekend sometime in the near future and compile a complete (or as complete as i can) from both lists into one document.

The australian severe weather site is a good resource too.

Good-oh. Have fun with that, LOL!

I will probably end up making a Excell database and a simple list by date.

I suppose it will take the best part of a couple of days to do. Probably wait for the first cricket test to start before I do though.

Sitting in the aircon, radio on for the commentary, TV on for the replays with no sound on. Smashing my keyboard with fat fingers, cups of coffee littering the desk, pouring with rain as teh monsoon trough stalls over my place for 4 or more days - hell yeah.

hey guys i was just wondering, when was the last cat 5 crossing in Qld since Yasi?

None since Yasi but then we haven't had another cyclone since she ripped the guts out of the Coral Sea and nothing could spin up by way of another cyclone until the start of this season. yasi just sucked up every drop of energy out there and nothing else had a chance of forming - thankfully.

Cat 5 cyclones happen so infrequently that they couldn't be called common.

Yes having 2 in 5 years is a bit of a record but prior to Larry the only other one of note was Althea.

Dates below:

STC Larry 18 March 2006 and before that from memory was STC Althea 24 december 1971.

I will do some digging on teh weekend and see if I can come up with any others.

Larry was officially a 4 on crossing despite reaching 5 offshore so he doesn't count and I have my doubts on Althea as well which was even weaker. So I would go with the 1918 TC with a Central Pressure of 926hPa for the last cat 5 to cross the coast.

TS

Seeing as this is an Australian cyclone history thread it should not be restricted to just the coral sea. In which case Monica would be included as she crossed around Maningida at a central pressure of 919hp I believe. A full 10hp lower than Yasi and far more destructive. Thanfully she crossed a sparsely populated area and was a very small system.

What about Hamish in 2009, or would that not be counted as it never crossed the coast?

You could go either way with Hamish. Although he did not crossthe coast as a five he was certainly an impressive system and came close enough to affect a large portion of the state.

Althea was only a cat 4. haha I say 'only'...

yeah Hamish was a problem all the way along the coast, I still remember trying to convince the oldies to at least get prepared in case that cyclone decided to visit Mackay.

yep sorry guys i made a couple of mistakes, comes from answering questions late at night without doing proper research.

Cyclones that form in Australia's AOR are counted regardless if the cross the coast or not.

Just chucking this in, in case it has anything extra in it.



CORRESPONDENCE. FAST CYCLONES. (1946, March 6). Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved November 6, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42485545

PAST CYCLONES.

(To the Editor, "The Cairns Post.")

Sir,—A review of past cyclones and their date of happening may interest your readers. (The very earliest items are from a preserved copy of Cummins and Campbell's monthly magazine).



March 3, 1867: Cyclone at Townsville, great damage.

February 20, 1870: Cyclone at Towns- ville; damage'done: ships wrecked.

February 17, 1876: Cyclone at Towns- ville, severe damage.

March 21, 1876: Cyclone Hinchin- brook Island area, ship Banshee lost, many people were drowned.

Note: There was no Cairns then, but in early 1878 and 1879 cyclonic blows were experienced in the Cairns district, Smithfield and Cairns being devastated and vessels blown out to sea.

In 1890 there were heavy floods in Townsville area, all low lying areas being

under water.

January 26, 1896: Townsville was wrecked by cyclone "Sigma," which

lasted two days.

March 4-5, 1899: Cape Melville- Bathurst Bay hurricane, pearling fleet and 300 lives lost—two cyclones met.

March 9, 1903: Townsville wrecked by cyclone "Leonta."

January 19, 1907: Cooktown wrecked by cyclone, ketch Piolot lost.

March 16, 1911: Cyclone devastated Port Douglas. Heavy flood rains Cairns, railway wrecked on Range.

March 23, 1911: Yongala lost with almost 150 people aboard.

January 29, 1913: Severe gales Innis- fail and Cairns; heavy floods experi- enced in areas between.

March 31 or April 1, 1913: Record flood in Barron River, reached almost to bank level at Mareeba, where pumping station near brewery swimming pool was washed away.

January 20, 1918: Mackay cyclone and

tidal wave: many lives lost.

March 9, 1918: Innisfail and Babinda wrecked by cyclone; many lives lost.

February 2, 1920: Cyclone inland from Cairns, Mareeba-Chillagoe area.

February 9, 1927: Cyclone at Cairns; heavy floods; Herbert River in high flood, several lives lost.

Early March, 1934: Cape Tribulation cyclone; loss of life heavy.



Of the Burdekin floodings it is known that in 1870 an extraordinarily high level was reached at the Dalrymple township on the Upper Burdekin when at this point the river broke its banks. Absence of records disallow of any com- parison of 1870 and 1946 high marks. There was then no Charters Towers, no Ayr and 76 years of time have elapsed since the residents of Dalrymple clung precariously to their roof tops and watched the Burdekin swirl past.



As this wet season has had a most unusual lead up it may be as well to recognise the possibility of the Peninsula, including the Cairns district, receiving yet more rain and wind than is good for it. Preparedness is a form of insurance.

Yours ,etc.,

HUGH A. BORLAND.

Gordonvale, March 4.

Throwing this in too...a "theory of cyclones" published in 1849. Ideas on how they form etc....fascinating reading. Won't cut and paste, as it has lots of errors in the digitised text that I havent' had time to fix

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/...4#pstart4094392

Some info I found on the 1867 cyclone that I found fascinating to read......

TOWNSVILLE. (1867, April 19). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 3. Retrieved November 6, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1283016
TOWNSVILLE.

We summarise from the Cleveland Bay Herald the following items of news :

The late cyclone has washed away all the buoys, beacons, and moorings in the creek and bay bay.

No tidings have as yet been received of the mail schooner Eva, which vessel left this port on the 2nd instant, bound for Rockingham Bay.

Carpenters are now in high demand and earning big wages, where before they were quite

at a discount.

Large gatherings of the natives are taking place all along the coast. At Swanfield station they have mustered in such large numbers that the assistance of the native police has been ob- tained to aid in dispersing them.,

We learn that the late storm and rains have done so much damage to the range, aat the rear 'of Rockingham Bay, as to prevent teams from having any access to that port.

The damage done to Black and Co.'s plan tation by the late tempestuous weather is irre- parable. Instead of gathering from 1000 to 1500 bushels of corn, as was anticipated, about one tenth of this quantity will be the yiold.

The prospecting party whom we fitted out to proceed to the Star River Diggings bring back with them a little, under an ounce of gold, while some Celestials who came into town this week havo added another proof of what may bo done at the Star if only proper men could be induced to make a fair trial. These Chinamen, three in number, came down with 24 ounces, which they

obtained 'in a very short time. One nugget weighed four ounces. These men are so sure of success that they themselves are not only going back again, but they are taking with them all the Celestials in tho neighorhood who are at liberty.

On account of tho boggy state of the country,

the Burdekin and all the other small rivers

being flooded,'we have been unable to gather much information as to the extent of damage occasioned in the up-country districts by the late hurricane). We hear that the main range is rendered impassable for teams, large masses of earth and stone having been dislodged, leaving holes large enough to bury both bullock drays and bullocks together, and the main road in many places is blocked up' with fallen trees.

NEWS AND NOTES. (1867, April 20). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 5. Retrieved November 6, 2011, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1283070

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1283070

and here, a ships report of the same 1867 cyclone off Nth Qld.

Perhaps when I find specific stuff, I should make a thread dedicated to that cyclone? Even if it is just links to trove?????

SBT, this website switchbanks has a list of cyclones too, from 1864 on. I can't C&P it for some reason...have a gander, it's a bit down the page so you'll ahve to search.

Thank you for your post and I am so sorry for your loss even though it was many years ago. Doesn't bear thinking about what it would have been like in those days with no proper warnings. I thought you might be interested in TC Mahina. Estimated TC cat 5 which hit Bathurst Bay, North Queensland 05/March 1899. Still the cyclone which caused the highest lost of life ever in Australia. Wiped out the pearling fleet. The memorial there lists '12 white men killed' and 'over 300 coloured men men drowned'. Many of the people drowned were divers and their support crew on the pearling luggers. The storm surge was estimated to be over 40 ft (see Constable Jack Kenny and Dr Walter Roth's eye witness accounts). The Lightship vanished off the face of the earth and no trace of it or its crew was ever found. You may be interested in the webpage detailed below, which puts together a number of newspaper reports from the time. It was reported from one of the ships (Crest of the Wave) that the barometric pressure reached 26 inches.

http://www.highland-pony.com/pearling/1899%20mahina%20bris%20cour11%20mar.html

If you have time, I would be interested in your comments on my post.

PS Ain't TROVE great!

Rhubarb, I think Mahina needs it's own thread! I had been reading about it, but for some silly reason, hadn't looked on a map, and was totally confused over where it was (had thought it was in WA!)

I'm guessing that the "coloured me" would have been almost all japanese? It's hard to read the horrible stuff....did you read the bit about giving flour to the "blacks" for burying the dead, and how they only bothered to look for ID on bodies if they were white?

Trove is BRILLIANT! I think I could retire, and just spend my time reading and editing the mistakes.
Did you put together the stuff on your link???

When I get time, I'd like to research all the Qld cyclones pre 1906 and post a thread....though anyone's welcome to do the same and or to contribute to the threads!

Boxey, the coloured would probably have been anyone non white so Japanese, Chinese, Javanese, Malayasians, but no Aboriginals. They wheren't classified as humans so where never counted. Yes in todays eyes that seems to be horrible but the fact is that aboriginal deaths due to natural disasters where rarely if ever compiled up to and including STC Tracey. Times change and society attitudes change with them. What today seems shockingly inhumane was nothing out of the ordinary back.

No, interestedly enough, the dead (God Rest their Souls)came from Japan, Indonesia and various island nations in the Pacific. The 'whites' who died are listed as from Scotland, England, Wales and Australia. Ages were from 18 - over 60 years of age.

I have to pull you up on that. Hamish in 1999 was in WA, bit of a fizzer really and didn't do any damage, never within a whisker of the coast. Our East coast TC Hamish in 2009 never crossed the coast either BUT he was the first cyclone in decades that trolled from the north of the marine park, down to the south, hitting Cat 5 on the way. He dropped to 925 hpa ... did a lot of damage to the reef. BoM's website is really good on Hamish at http://www.bom.gov.au/announcements/sevwx/qld/qldtc20090304.shtml - track and everything.

Just interested in historical cyclones, not having grown up here. So much really good info out there on the web.

One of the first investigations into cyclones published in Sydney Morning Herald 19 Jan 1858 page 5

Link http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/13018117

CYCLONES.

CAPTAIN R. Fitzroy, R.N., F.R.G.S., some time ago submitted a paper " On the Formation of Cyclones," to the members of the Royal Geographical Society, which, we observe, finds a place in the new volume of the journal of that Society's transactions. We append his remarks on that interesting topic.

" With much diffidence," he says, " I advance the theory which appears to me to supply some explanation of the formation of cyclones, and of the tracks they pursue, the result of a long, practical, and close study of the winds and weather which I have met with in my own voyages, and from the investigation of a number of logbooks to which I have had access.

All winds, except where influenced by the proximity of much land, appear to me to be parts of cyclones obeying in their respective hemispheres the laws which have now been proved to govern hurricanes, both with regard to their tracks and rotatory motions. By the term cyclones, I mean rotatory winds advancing on a line.. When of a very large diameter, such as
those of which trade winds may form a part, they strike the surface diagonally ; but where of limited diameter, as in the higher latitudes, or of still less dia- meter, as in the hurricanes of the tropics, they descend horizontally, or so nearly so that, from their small size, they maybe looked upon practically as being so. They invariably increase in strength towards the centre, and the less their diameter the greater the force of wind seems to be.

About the tropics easterly winds are to be found, veering towards the equator, more directly as they near it ; but gradually veering more from the westward, and in many places becoming due westerly on the equator, or, more correctly speaking, about the equator, for the belt of westerly winds appears to move more northerly or southerly as the sun is in north or south declination. These winds seldom exceed a fresh gale when the sun has been long in the opposite hemisphere. But in that hemisphere in which the sun has been long, cyclones arise of limited diameter and of hurricane force, also having westerly winds on the equatorial, and easterly winds on the tropical quadrants ; blowing directly towards the equator on their westerly quadrant, and moving invariably towards tbe west.

Their tracks slightly incline towards the south in southern, and north in northern hemispheres, and disappear about the tropics. Immediately without the tropics, cyclones appear to me to form of greater diameter than those within, and to travel towards S.E , E.S.E , and finally due E., as they approach latitude 28 or 30 degrees. In higher latitudes, quoting from my own observations only, I look upon the winds as blowing in a constant succession of cyclones, of probably 1000 m., or thereabouts, in diameter, descending upon the surface horizontally, and moving on parallel lines, travelling invariably towards the east, but never equalling in force the hurricanes of the tropics. I would point out the great regularity which prevails in high latitudes, in the southern hemisphere, in the succession of these cy- clones. First, we find slight air springing up from the northward, being, I conceive, the easterly part of a cyclone overtaking the ship ; then a steady wind from the northward for several days, if the cyclone is moving at a moderate rate, water smooth, and the ship sailing well; then N.W. and W.N.W wind for some days; increasing in strength ; then a sudden shift of wind to S.W., squalls, moderating, wind hauling to the southward, and either falling calm as the cyclone leaves the ship, or blowing fresh from the S.E. for a day or two. The changes of wind and fall of barometer until just before the shift to S.W., when it begins to rise again, will point out the cyclone's rate of pro- gression and exact track.
The navigator is thus enabled to foretell with certainty how the wind will be, and of what force for some days, and may even choose the strength of wind most advantageous for him in many instances, by hauling more or less to the north- ward. I have found these laws to apply equally to the gales of wind between the Azores and the British Channel, but their diameter appears to me to be much larger there, and, consequently, the changes cannot be taken so much advantage of. I may here also mention that I have several times found a cyclone of about 700 m. in diameter, to the southward and on the meridian of Cape L'Agulhas, nearly stationary when on the S.W. quadrant of it, with the wind from S.E. A ship bound to the eastward, by standing to the S.S.W.. will find the wind haul gradually to E. and E.N.E , and thus sail round it and proceed with a northerly wind. In endeavouring to trace the cause of these winds, let me first consider those within the tropics. The heat of the surface not being so great in one hemisphere when the sun has been long in the opposite one, the air from the extra tropical regions would flow in evenly and continuously, and thus occupy the space between the tropics and the equator in one mass. We should look then for steady winds, except where influenced by large continents or other local causes. When it first reached the surface within the tropics, the difference between its rotatory velocity and that of those regions would be great. It would move towards the E. more slowly than the earth's surface there, and consequently would make a current 0f wind from the eastward ; but being at the same time urged on towards the more heated regions nearer to the equator, the wind would become S.E. in southern, and N.E. in northern latitudes. After passing over a few degress of latitude, it would participate more nearly in the motion of those parts. The difference of velocity would diminish, and the impulse towards the equator be- come more direct, forming a southerly wind in south- ern, and a northerly in northern hemispheres. As it neared the equator, it would acquire still more nearly the velocity of the surface, and become first a south-westerly or north-westerly and then a westerly wind, not from gaining upon the earth in its motion, but by lagging less behind than the rest of the mass, the whole of such mass moving apparently towards the westward. Having become heated, it would then rise and flow towards the poles, thus forming a circle, striking the surface diagonally. In some parts of the equatorial regions the southern cyclone seems to rise from the surface at that point which represents the S.W. or S S.W. winds, and the northern one at that representing the N. W. or N.N.W. winds ; while in other parts, especially towards large continents, the due westerly winds appear to extend over many de- grees of longitude. May this not be from local influ- ences or difference in the humidity of the atmosphere, causing a variation in the angle at which the cyclone strikes the surface diagonally.

When the surface within the tropics is overheated by the sun's long presence over one hemisphere, the air expanding and rising more rapidly from that hemisphere, and, consequently the colder air rushing in with greater force, is it unreasonable to suppose that, instead of forming one large cyclone, it should be broken up at times into smaller ones, which, from being transferred so much quicker than usual from one region to another, would reach the surface with far greater difference of velocity and impulse, and thus form cyclones of hurricane force and small diameter? Each cyclone, bringing polar velocity with it, would then lag behind the earth, or more apparently to the westward, and, being under the same influences as the larger circle of steady winds, would veer the same way ; namely, easterly winds on the segment towards the tropics, blowing towards the equator on its west- ern side, and from the westward on its equatorial side. Would not each of these small masses, detached with great violence from the larger cyclone, naturally com- plete the eddy with incurving circles auch as we find in tropical hurricanes ? With respect to the cyclones of the higher latitudes, two theories offer themselves to my mind-1st. The heated equatorial air, while it rises and flows over towards the poles, carries with it the rotatory velocity due to its equatorial situation, into higher latitudes, where the earth's surface has less motion. Hence, when it first returned to the surface, in its circulation beyond the tropics it would gain on the earth in the motion of rotation there, and therefore move bodily to the eastward, forming, apparently, a westerly wind. Ad- vancing over a few degrees of latitude, it would, by participating more nearly in tne velocity of those regions, blow more directly towards the poles ; and afterwards, though still gaining upon, the surface, it would, by dragging as it were more upon the earth, and thus lagging behind the rest of the mass, cause an easterly wind on that quadrant of it nearest to the poles.

Ultimately, the air would be drawn away towards the more heated equatorial regions, and thus complete the revolution of the oyclone. 2nd In offer- ing my second proposition, I select the southern hemi- sphere to save confusion of terms. The air flowing over towards the poles with a greater rotatory velocity, would, when its influence in descending was first felt at the surface, be a light breeze from the N.N. W., or thereabout; as it continued to descend, it would in- crease in strength, gradually lose its impulse towards the pole, and therefore become a strong westerly wind; when it reached its lowest point, the gale would then be at the heaviest. It would then begin to flow in towards the equatorial regions, and thus form a south-westerly wind. The space would then be re-occupied, either by another descending current, or by winds from still higher latitudes flowing in to- wards more heated regions. In the first case, it would finish with light airs from the southward, to recom- mence at N. and N.W. ; in the second case, after the S. W. winds, it would blow from S E and E. To any ship or person stationary upon the surface, I apprehend either the first or second proposition would represent the apparent succession of cyclones, such as I have noticed above as prevailing in high latitudes. With respect to the cyclones between 25 degrees and 30 de- grees latitude, which are generally considered, I believe, to be those of the tropics recurring, I am induced to think that they only commence there, having seve- ral times in those latitudes on both sides of the Cape of Good Hope, though more frequently about the me- ridian of the Mauritius, found small whirlwinds arise, the wind blowing in sudden sharp puffs and always veering the way the regular hurricanes do in that he- misphere. The ship having gone round and round several times, and the puffs increasing in steadiness and duration, I have tried the experiment with suc- cess, of striking off from the centre, when on that part of the circle thst should give me the wind I required. May these cyclones not be formed by the descending winds from the tropical regions, which, meeting the surface with a greater rotatory velocity, thus acquire their south-easterly and easterly course ? The theory I have advanced for the veering of cyclones in higherFix this text latitudes, would apply also to those in this zone."

The first conference detailing how as a united set of colonies we should have a centralised weather reporting system. If you read the whole thing you will find reference to acyclone which travelled from NW WA to Tas via the Great Australian Bight/ SA.

THE INTERCOLONIAL METEOROLOGICAL CONFERENCE.11-14 November 1879
Sydney Morning Herald. 22 jan 1880
We have received a copy of the minutes of the proceedings of the Intercolonial Meteorological Conference held at Sydney in November last. Invitations were
issued by the Government of New South Wales to the other Australian colonies to send representatives to the meeting, but neither Queensland nor Tasmania availed itself of the opportunity. The pro- vinces represented were New Zealand. Victoria, South Australia, and New South
Wales, the delegates being Mr. James Hector, Inspector of Meteorological Stations, New Zealand, and Messrs. C Todd, R. L. J. Ellery, and H. C. Russell, the respective Governtnont astronomers of South Australia, Vic toria, and New South Wales. The propositions laid before tho Confe rence were as follows :— To consider the meteorology of Australia and New Zea land, with a view to united action in its investigation ; the establishment of ad ditional first- class stations; the desirability of using the same class of instruments at all stations and making the obser vations at the same local hour ; to secure the co-operation of the meteorolgists of New Zealand and Tasmania in the system of weather telegrams which obtains in the other colonies ; the special study of winds ; and other questions of minor importance. From this brief sketch of the subjects under the consideration of the Conference it will be seen that it did not merely deal with scientific quoations, but also with practical matters of the greatest importance to the community. If, as the outcome of the expressions of opinion at tho Conference, the sister colonies of New Zealand and Tasmania are induced to join in the system of weather telegrams which is now adopted con joinly by South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, a very desirable object will have been effected. The presence of a delegate from New Zealand at the Conference is in itself a favourable augury, in so far as that colony is concerned, and there is reason to suppose that if that colony unites herself to the other provinces ia this matter Tasmania will no longer hold aloof. For more reasons than one it is ex tremely desirable that all the Australasian colonies should unite in this movement. It is not only desirable for agricultural and climatorogical purposes, but in order to acquire a better knowledge of the move ment and origin of strong gales and storms on our coastlines and neighbouring seas, so as to secure the safety of vessels it sea. These who take any interest in the meteorology of these colonies will not need to be told that early information is to the state of the weather in all parts is peculiarly valuable. In most cases the approach of storms and gales can be ascer tained beforehand by this means, and thus danger to shipping can be averted. It is not necessary to remind our readers of, the great advantages which have ac crued from the storm warnings flashed across the Atlantic from America to Europe. Similar benefits would be derived from the observations taken in these colonies. Thus, South Australia and Western Australia could give notice to the easterly colonies of approaching gales, as it has been found that storms from the westward travel with great regularity in an easterly direction. The two colonies named, moreover, would be recording the actual passage of gales, and not merely speculating on the chance of their occurring. From Queensland valuable information as to the occurrence of the cyclones which traverse the Northern Island of New Zealand could be wired to the latter colony, and would act as a timely warning ; while from Hobart Town early intimation could be given of gales which menace the eastern coast of Australia. As an instance in point, it was mentioned in tho course of the Conference that the gale which wrecked the ill-fated Dandenong was ob served at Hobart Town thirty hours before it reached Sydney. Had this information been telegraphed at once to all the meteor -logical stations many casualties might lave been prevented. It was also pointed out by Mr. Todd, in the case of the hurri cane on the north-west coast of Aus tralia in December, 1878, that indications of the progress of the gale were noted a few days after at Alice Springs, in the centre of the continent, then at Eucla, at Cape Borda, and finally at Cape Nor thumberland, on January 2. On the same day, after passing the Great Bight, it was indicated at Hobart Town, and no doubt is entertained that a storm which raged between the Great Bight and Tasmania was the continuation of the hurricane travelling from the north-west. "It must have had a slow progressive motion over the Australian continent between the north-west coast and the Australian Bight, emerging from the coast at about the Great Bight, and occupying twenty-four hours in passing from the Great Bight to Hobart Town." In this case early intimation of the approaching storm might have been telegraphed to Tasmania. This is a striking illustration of the impor tance of some such joint action as that recommended by the Meteorological Con ference. In course of time the approach of gales could be ascertained and made known throughout Australia with absolute certainty, and at the earliest possible . moment. To carry out the scheme thoroughly it will be necessary to have first-class meteorological stations established In addition to those already existing, and a resolution to this effect was passed at the Sydney meeting. It was further decided that the same class of instruments should be used in the different colonies, and that the observations sbould be made at the same local hour. Unless this is done these observations will not be capable of comparison, and for some purposes will be practically of little utility. Another important point raised was the expediency of having the weather telegrams dispatched at the earliest possible moment. In Europe these telegrams take precedence of all except Government messages, and it was contended that the same practice should be adopted in the colonies. Inasmuch as it cannot be fraught with any material inconvenience to the public, while on the other hand the value of the messages will be greatly enhanced, there are strong reasons why these telegrams should have precedence. It is a matter on which we imagine tho Govern ments of the various colonies will find no diffiulty in agreeing. It was also decided that observatories should be established on lofty points in each of the colonies for the study of the winds, and Mount Lofty was suggested as a suitable locality in South Australia. By means of these stations the approach of south easterly gales, which frequently make their

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appearance first at lofty points, may be promptly detected. The very sensible suggestion was made that some uniform plan of publishing the weather statistics should be agreed upon. Unless this is done great difficulty must he experienced in collating and com paring tbe returns. There is, unfortunately, too much diversityin the forms in which all the statistics in these colonies are issued, and any attemptat reformin this direction however slight, is greatly to be welcomed. The Conference is to be congratulated on the practical outcome of its deliberations, and it may be hoped that the useful schemes projected will be carried out promptly and thoroughly.

Bowen Cyclone
16 Feb 1884 Australian Town and Country Journal.
The telegraphic report of the disaster reads ..
" BOWEN. February 3.
" After blowing hard for several days the storm began on "Wednesday morning, when houses and trees commenced to fall. -The primary school, which waa built of "brick, the corporation store, and numerous other buildings, both in town and country, were blown down. Half the roof of the new Supreme Court was blown off. The TIMES office was unroofed, and much damage was done, so that no paper could be issued on Saturday. The Catholic Church was -blown down, the Bank of New South Wales was unroofed, and Smith's large iron store adjoining levelled to the ground. The pilot buildings were blown down, and all tho pilot boats and the cutter lost. Stores were unroofed and much damage done to the contents. The jetty at Poole Island, the steam launch and punts are all gone, and the machinery and buildings much damaged, the amount of damage being estimated at between £5000 and £810,000. The steamer Fiado, which was loading frozen meat, broke her cable, and is now on the beach, and it is doubtful whether she will get off at the next spring tides. The frozen meat on board was given away to thc public. No lives were lost, but many cattle and horses were killed by falling trees. lt is impossible to give full particulars of the damage done. Every house in the town is damaged in some way, and the losses very great. Many families were rendered homeless, and took refuge in the English Church and various public
buildings. There is supposed to have been a Fix this text wreck at Gloucester Island, but there are no boats to go in search. It is not known where the Government schooner Pearl is, but it is feared that she has come to grief. The weather is now calm. Fortunately the rain ceased soon after the storm commenced, or the loss would have been dreadful. The manager of the Poole Island Meat-preserving Works wires us to the effect that the cyclone did much damage to the works, but no lives were lost. Freezing operations wore
going on successfully at the time"

TROVE - The Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld : 1875 - 1929)Thursday 17 February 1927

FEBRUARY CYCLONES

QUEENSLAND The first recorded Queensland cyclone in February arrived on the 20th of the month in 1870, and left few roofs on any houses' at either Townsville or. Bowen. It also mopped up several ships and caused heavy -floods. Febru ary 17th, 1876, saw the next one. It arrived at Townsville and provided much work - for - the building trade to re-erect what it blew down. In the - following year on February 2nd a fear- ful cyclone passed over Conogarie Creek and the Albert River, leaving a broad swath of desolation and wreck in it's wake. Cardwell had the next Febru ary cyclone, which arrived on the 2nd of the month in 1862 doing consider able damage, and the next one smote Cooktown two years later on the 21st of the month. February 17th 1888 saw the next one, which shook up the town of Mackay and wrecked two steamers. The next was an indecisive one that appeared off the coast on the 1st Febru ary 1893, oscillated as if unable to make up its mind what to do, and then. fled for the open sea and was seen or heard no more. Another one showed up on the 16-17th, and terrified the longshoremen of Sandgate before it also left the coast. On 4th February 1898 Mackay was visited by one which came in from the north-east, causing widespread damage and the next February cyclone was re ported from the 4th to 6th of the month in 1899 from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Little damage was done. Nine years passed without another February cy- clone in Queensland, and then one visit- ed Chillagoe and Barcaldine on that 16th in 1906, causing considerable dam age at both places. In 1909 there where two, one on the 3rd-4th February, which almost wrecked Normanton, and the other on the 19th which passed over Cunnamula and Thargomindah. On February 10th, 1910, Port Donglas was almost blown flat (five weeks later it was blown quite flat) by a breeze that came, in from the north. The next one was on February, 19th, to 21st of 1914, hut although it brought heavy rain along the coast the centre of the blow itself remained at sea for the bene fit of timid passengers. On February 6th-9th of the following year a severe cyclone operated off the coast from Bowen southwards. Much the same thing happened in the following year. On February 10th to 15th, and again on February 12th to 14th of 1918. On February 2nd 1920 a swift moving storm swept down on the coast line and passed inland near Cairns. It fell on Chillagoe, Mareeba and Holloy, and shifted the hats off most of the houses. People had hardly got over that one when another drove in from the north-

east and mopped up Port Douglas, as well as most other places between there and Croydon. It was a busy Febru- ary for the north. On February 16th and 18th, 1922, the operations of a hefty cyclone between New Caledonia caused men at sea to peer from behind bridge-dodgers and wonder how long it was going to last: and between February' -18th to March 3rd, one -measured

from York Pennisular to Western Aus tralia, it took its time over the jour ney. Meanwhile, another one sprang up between New Caledonia and Queens land and operated from 23rd to 28th. At Norfolk Island the barometer at 9.0 a-m. on 28th was 29.11 inches. February of 1925 was a busy month with no less than four cyclones of varying degrees of disagreeableness. The first was over the area between Willis Island and the mainland from 3rd to 6th, and was of only moderate intensity. The next was over Chinchilla, and, al- though it lasted only 3 minutes or so, it caused much damage to buildings. Through the collapse of a church a girl was fatally injured. Longreach saw the next on the 22nd. It occurred dur- ing the night, unroofing a number of houses end damaging the railway con- struction camp. The fourth and last passed over Willis Island on the 26th and readied Cooktown the same night doing some damage to buildings. It was the only one of the four that bought much rain.

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