Weather News

Northern tropics quiet down

Joel Pippard, Monday April 17, 2017 - 15:56 AEST

The tropical low that made Darwin rug up last week has now dissipated of Western Australia's Pilbara coast.

The tropical low was initially expected to strengthen to a category 2 tropical cyclone and bring gale force winds across the Top End and the Kimberley Coast before heading out to sea.

While the system was in the Timor Sea and still strengthening it brought 85km/h gusts to McCluer Island on Monday 10th before slowly moving over the waters between Darwin and the Tiwi Islands.

Staying near the coast, the tropical low experienced considerable wind shear, breaking up the order of the system and stopping its development into a tropical cyclone.

Tuesday 11th only saw the mercury rise to a maximum of 21.9 degrees, the coldest day in 49 years and the third coldest day on record. Overnight into Wednesday 12th, Darwin's temperature fell to just 18.0 degrees.

The heaviest rain fell some 350km east of Darwin at Maningrida, who recorded 105.8mm on Tuesday and 111.4mm on Wednesday. This rainfall broke both the highest April daily rainfall record and made it the wettest April in more than a decade.

Since Friday 14th, the system has been almost stationary around 600km northwest of the Pilbara coast. With an associated trough it has continued to bring showers and storms across the Pilbara and Kimberley and into the Interior. The remaining cloud has broken up on Monday 17th as moisture is drawn towards a low pressure system over the Southern Interior and Goldfields.

Showers and storms look to become less likely through the week for the northern WA coast as a high pressure ridge and dry inland trough look to gain strength, keeping conditions warm and dry.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2017

Enter a postcode or town name for local weather, or text to search the site. » advanced search

Weather News

» all stories

Winter is Coming: Chilly day for Sydney, rain pelts eastern seaboard

17:22 AEST Just as we forecast yesterday, a coastal trough has deepened along the NSW and southeast Qld coasts as a low in the Coral Sea continues to inch closer to Qld. The trough has brought some interesting weather to NSW in the past 36 hours or so, particularly along the coastal fringe, giving those New South Welshmen a “Stark” Game of Thrones reminder: winter is coming.