StormscapesDarwin.net

Bit of low topped clouds about. Moving inland as the arvo ends. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

From Perth Weather Live... too good not to share. Great weather page if you live in WA, no BS just keeps it real.

🌪️📚 PWL WEATHER HISTORY 📚🌪️

SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE OLIVIA
10 APRIL 1996

When people talk about extreme weather records in Australia, one event sits in a league of its own.
On 10 April 1996, Severe Tropical Cyclone Olivia crossed the Pilbara coast and rewrote the weather record books forever.
As Olivia passed over Barrow Island, an anemometer recorded a staggering wind gust of 408 km/h.

Read that again.

408 km/h.
That's faster than most Formula 1 cars, faster than a lot of light aircraft, and enough to make your wheelie bin arrive in another postcode before you realise it's gone.

To this day, it remains the strongest non-tornadic wind gust ever recorded anywhere on Earth, a record officially recognised by the World Meteorological Organization in 2010.

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🌪️ THE CYCLONE

Olivia formed north of Australia on 3 April 1996 and gradually strengthened as it tracked south-west off the WA coast.

By 9 April it had intensified into a powerful Category 4 system with:

📉 Central pressure: 925 hPa
💨 Sustained winds: 195 km/h
🌊 Waves exceeding 21 metres offshore

On the morning of 10 April, Olivia passed near Barrow Island before making landfall near Mardie on the Pilbara coast.

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💥 THE RECORD THAT SHOCKED THE WORLD

At 6:55pm WA time on 10 April, an automatic weather station on Barrow Island recorded three extraordinary wind gusts within minutes:

💨 369 km/h
💨 374 km/h
💨 408 km/h

Initially, meteorologists questioned the reading because it was simply unbelievable.
After years of investigation, instrument checks and analysis, the record was confirmed as genuine.
The previous world record was 372 km/h recorded at Mount Washington in the United States in 1934.

Olivia smashed it.

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🏠 IMPACT ACROSS THE PILBARA

While the record winds occurred offshore, Olivia still caused widespread destruction across the Pilbara.

📍 Mardie recorded a gust of 257 km/h
📍 Varanus Island recorded 267 km/h, then Australia's highest verified wind gust at the time.
📍 Every house in Pannawonica suffered damage.
📍 55 of the town's 82 homes lost their roofs.
📍 Power lines were destroyed and the town was left without electricity for weeks.
📍 Mines were shut down and offshore oil and gas facilities suffered millions of dollars in damage.
📍 Ten people were injured.

Fortunately, there were no direct fatalities from the cyclone itself.

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🌊 MORE THAN JUST WIND

Olivia also delivered:

🌧️ Up to 167 mm of rainfall
🌊 Local storm surge of around 2 metres
🚤 Boats sunk at Dampier
🌊 Massive offshore seas exceeding 21 metres

Even after weakening, Olivia's remnants continued across southern Australia where rough seas near Port Lincoln caused the loss of around 60,000 farmed tuna, worth approximately $60 million.

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📌 WEATHER HISTORY FACT

The world record 408 km/h wind gust wasn't officially recognised until 14 years after the cyclone occurred.

Sometimes even meteorologists need a little time to process something that sounds completely ridiculous.
And honestly, if someone told you the wind was blowing at 408 km/h, you'd probably assume they'd accidentally left the decimal point off.

🌪️ Severe Tropical Cyclone Olivia remains one of the most remarkable weather events ever recorded in Australia and still holds the title of producing the strongest non-tornadic wind gust ever measured on Earth.

Offshore showers and nearing Gunn point.

Bit of higher cloud about.

Infra red satellite image tonight and I've added those crayon arrows just to show flow. That lick of the trough at the top poking in to the far west. Arrows show that squeeze point between the two high pressure ridges either side of the Top End.

Added is Thursday morning forecast radar and Friday. Early graphics as the later times aren't added till tomorrow for full day Friday, which is the important day fir possible showers.

Will update Thursday morning.

I'll be shooting trackside again for during the Supercars at Hidden Valley for the three days. It's the other thing I do apart from giving you weather info on the page, storm chasing and lightning education and photos.

Sorry, but the only lightning you'll see is the F35 Lightning II and the thunder will be the roar of the jet and V8s!!

lightning II ⚡️

Give us a yell if ya see me!

Showers about the NE coastal and a few offshore this morning. Gove area will likely see this trend right up to the weekend. For us...odd spot on Friday (and hopefully not for the weekend at the Supercars round here.)

Bureau still showing a couple of showers about Friday and a maybe for satdy morning.

The top ridging of a trough moving through the interior from a strong low down south is being squeezed into the Top End between two high pressure systems.

So that hint of humidity goes up a wee bit ;)

Our dry season offers all the relief from humidity and horrid hot days and nights.

The dry season isn't actually 'dry' in the true sense re the atmosphere. Whilst locally it is drier of course, the humidity is only about 35%. So when we feel any increase and see cloud, it has risen and we notice it, albeit subtle.

Instability levels are typically 2500 to 3200, but dry season it hovers mostly offshore around 500 to 700, which for us, doesn't produce storms, but brief showers mainly on the Tiwis and Gove and if that instability lowers to the mainland then we get those sneaky showers.

The graphics show the CAPE or convective available potential energy...which are very low, but can pop up the odd shower.

The other is theta-e...complicated, but just shows the different amounts re moisture and dry air in the atmosphere. The mainland is greens and blues...drier. off-shore the oranges etc highlight moisture.

Lastly the forecast radar showing potentials for light showers if they are pushed.

Wet Season > Deep, rich moisture.

Dry Season > Shallow, limited.