australian region cyclone season australian region cyclone season included tied intense tropical cyclone record australian basin began november ended april regional tropical cyclone operational plan defines tropical cyclone year separately tropical cyclone season runs july june dates conventionally period year tropical cyclones form australian region defined southern hemisphere season tropical depressions existed dates designated tropical cyclone entering basin december system dissipated june tropical cyclones area monitored perth darwin brisbane port tropical cyclogenesis season began tropical low developed january january northern western_australia february weakening entered australian region brought severe flooding queensland dissipating february severe tropical cyclone formed north western_australia february later peaked category severe tropical cyclone australian tropical cyclone intensity scale cyclone graham developed offshore western_australia february landfall rural area state february producing flooding area tropical cyclone existed offshore western_australia march march march cyclone formed offshore queensland strengthened moved path leaving australian region march caused minor damage queensland originated offshore march system subsequently struck territory eventually landfall queensland march crossing gulf impact generally minor cyclone formed march caused severe impact indonesia especially later deepened intense tropical cyclone record australian region tied weakened significantly striking western_australia april dissipating shortly final system tropical cyclone developed east june dissipated following day overall tropical cyclones season caused deaths million usd damage seasonal summary season began november ended april regional tropical cyclone operational plan defines tropical cyclone year july june cyclones entered formed australian region average season major shift tropical cyclone activity australian region moderate event cyclones occurred east australia formed tropical cyclone developed julian overall tropical cyclones season resulted deaths slightly million damage activity began december tropical cyclone entered australian region southwestern indian_ocean basin december january unnamed tropical cyclone existed weeks northern territory western_australia basin active february entering area february followed development february graham february formed north western_australia tropical cyclones originated march developed northwest western_australia formed east queensland week later march developed near coast strongest tropical system season cyclone originated indonesia march peak intensity minimum barometric pressure mbar inhg making intense tropical cyclone australian region record tied activity remained dormant development cyclone june dissipated following day storms tropical depression tropical cyclone developed southwestern indian_ocean december located west northwest initially drifted southwest turned eastward december time entered estimated peaked minute maximum sustained winds mph minimum barometric pressure mbar inhg storm drifted utc december issued final warning situated west northwest perth continued system january unnamed tropical cyclone tropical low developed january strengthened tropical cyclone passing near storm landfall january utc system peaked winds mph weeks system remained inland moving offshore january deep trough generated wind shear significant intensification deep convection began develop late january approached north coast western_australia utc january storm landfall near winds mph system quickly weakened dissipated utc gale force winds caused damage vegetation trees vehicles buildings wind driven waves mouth inundated workshops near torrential rains fell river district peaking temporary evacuated occurred rivers overflowed inundated portions highways tropical cyclone storm brought rainfall hour period area caused overflow banks flooded operationally storm thought separate systems remained tropical cyclone intensity tropical cyclone originated late january remnants crossed australian region february reaching remnants slowly began strong convective bands formed brisbane initiated gale warnings located offshore queensland february remnants tropical cyclone strong vertical wind shear caused dissipated february situated offshore queensland near city heavy rainfall accompanied remnants reaching near person drowned flooding rains runoff caused resulted moderate flood estimated return period years cyclone heavy rains helped ease drought problems queensland declared disaster areas additionally strong winds left power outages overall resulted damages million million queensland tropical low severe tropical cyclone area convection began developing tropical low february located north poorly defined convection noted good outflow weak circulation system drifted westward minimal development late february satellite imagery showed increasing convection near center subsequently issued system developing low located environment weak moderate wind shear perth issued warning utc february perth named system issued advisory hours later strengthened steadily reached tropical cyclone intensity utc february continuing intensify perth upgraded storm severe tropical cyclone status early february early february eye embedded partial concentric convective bands later day perth reported peak intensity mph utc shortly storm began weakening dry air increased utc february perth reduced intensity mph deep convection weakened somewhat eye cloud filled eye briefly redeveloped water imagery showed cooler drier air entering southern portion storm began turn southwestward neared late february weakened gale force intensity moving steadily southward curved south southeastward storm rapidly weakening issued final warning early february perth followed suit hours later remnants moved leading significant amounts rainfall adelaide recorded rain hours combined new_south_wales saw major flooding events towns flooding closed houses damaged torrential rains tropical cyclone graham late february area convection situated inland roughly week emerged open waters northern coast australia tropical low formed february developed banding feature february despite strong wind shear began issuing warnings low located kilometers north northeast disturbance initially nearly stationary utc february designated storm tropical cyclone graham according storm intensified late february noted slight weakening storm graham reached peak intensity day winds mph nearing coast storm landfall western_australia utc february graham weakened dissipated march storm dropped rainfall western_australia recorded heavy rain caused flooding road river passing river topped banks slightly nearby blue bush creek men drowned group people attempted cross men rescued died emergency services arrived addition flooding number trees downed tropical cyclone tropical low developed southwest february perth issued march indicated eastward moving inhg low utc march initiated warnings estimating winds mph system maintained defined circulation deep convection diminished somewhat march later day perth began issuing gale warnings low expected develop tropical cyclone moving eastward convection increased near center dry air development utc march perth named system march briefly decreased intensity mph deep convection diminished probably persistent dry air late march convection increased coverage based perth intensity mph late march moved slowly southward curved west southwestward convection fluctuated cyclone maintained intensity deep convection decreased slightly lowered intensity mph perth suggested march peaked winds mph located north northwest early march issued final advisory storm extratropical utc march located west northwest strong winds contributed large near western australia severe tropical cyclone monsoon trough strengthened tropical low march low significantly organized named march offshore queensland early march began classifying system tropical cyclone moving slowly southeastward northward influence weak mid level ridge east attained minute sustained winds mph soon weakened strong wind shear march cyclone degenerated tropical low remnants curved eastward southeastward wind shear favorable tropical cyclogenesis result low tropical cyclone attaining equivalent category hurricane saffir simpson hurricane wind scale entered basin march severe tropical cyclone powerful cyclone severely affected considered worst affect country cyclone early existence offshore queensland predecessor brought strong winds coast trees uprooted power lines damaged tropical cyclone darwin began monitoring tropical low developed west darwin march early march classified system tropical cyclone utc march storm situated northwest storm deepened drifted eastward southeastward march landfall winds mph emerging van gulf march peaked sustained winds mph struck began slowly weaken inland storm reached gulf march accelerated southeastward march utc cyclone landfall south moving inland storm quickly weakened dissipated later day advance storm tropical cyclone advisories issued communities government evacuated residents shelters darwin area certain schools closed temporarily precaution impact generally minor rain fell hours storm surge ran tides estimated strong winds downed numerous trees striking house inflicted minor damage small craft northwestern gulf region roads cut cyclone severe tropical cyclone area disturbed weather located near trough near late march despite easterly wind shear tropical low developed march shortly crossing island decreasing wind shear allowed low strengthen tropical cyclone crossing april later day initiated advisories april classified low tropical cyclone eye feature gradually organized winds increased mph early april result began classifying severe tropical cyclone later april low wind shear strong divergence allowed cyclone undergo rapid intensification eye defined utc april peaked sustained winds mph according based pressure wind relationship estimated reached minimum barometric pressure mbar inhg storm tied intense tropical cyclone australian cyclone region simultaneously indicated peaked sustained winds mph later april increasing wind shear began weaken following day eye cloud filled april weakened category status landfall region western_australia april winds mph circulation dissipated hours moving ashore precursor tropical disturbance dropped heavy rainfall eastern indonesia system destroyed hundreds homes large fields corn rice crop heavy damage reported near flooding mudslides destroyed houses destroyed roads connecting east total animals killed east regency eastern system left destroyed houses severely damaged receiving light damage damage indonesia totaled million injuries reported addition fatalities reported australia storm dropped rain minutes tropical cyclone early june area fairly persistent convection stretched north fiji utc june developed near unusually close equator initially storm appeared undergoing rapid deepening prompting issue strong wind shear caused system quickly organized soon cancelled short lived cyclone warning late morning hour june placed center northeast island recognized tropical cyclone final warning issued later day winds fell gale force season effects table storms formed australian region cyclone season includes duration names landfall denoted bold location names damages death totals damage deaths include totals storm extratropical wave low damage figures usd
2002–03 Australian region cyclone season