It’s time to batten down the hatches so to speak as Tropical Cyclone Ellie is due to hit land about 120km North of Townsville on Monday (tomorrow) at around noon. Here is the current tracking map from the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology (link):
We will be keeping a close eye on this cyclone and this afternoon I’ll be taking down the shade cloth cover from our outdoor entertainment area. If the cyclone starts to build in strength, or move south at all, I’ll also be taking in the chairs, table and possibly the barbeque into the garage.
The last cyclone to hit near Townsville was Tropical Cyclone Larry in 1996 while our house was being lifted. That cyclone destroyed or damaged 1 of 3 houses in Innisfail, which you can see on the map above. This time we should see an increase in rain and strong winds in Townsville, but if it continues on the current path we should be fairly safe here.
Dealing with cyclones is one of the challenges we get to deal with living in the tropics. My wife’s been talking about writing an article about how challenging this climate can be at times (this week we had to throw out a backpack and at least one pair of shoes because of mould). Not sure if she will get around to it, but if so I’ll make sure to post it on here …
7 responses so far ↓
judy dower // Feb 1, 2009 at 6:35 am
i live in home hill north qld and was wondering where the eye of the cyclone was now?
and what damage can we expect in the burdekin area?
Bill Hutchison // Feb 1, 2009 at 7:18 am
If you check out the Australia Government Bureau of Meteorology web-site you can find out the latest news on the cyclone. Here is the link:
They are expecting gale force winds down near Ayr, but the eye is North of Townsville, so you should just get the bottom of it.
Cheryl // Feb 1, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Makes me soooo, glad that I’m in Canberra. I hope you miss the nasty stuff and you and your family are kept out of harms way.
Tamara Hutchison // Feb 1, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I could write that article tonight honey about the dramas of living in the tropics (re: the mold you mentioned), but I’ve been a bit busy keeping an eye on our cyclone warning weather updates. Another joy of living in this part of Oz!!
Bill Hutchison // Feb 1, 2009 at 11:47 pm
The latest update on Tropical Cyclone Ellie, issued at 11:00 tonight, has limited the area a bit so that it doesn’t include areas south of Townsville, but Townsville is still included in the latest warning.
What’s interesting is that they are now projecting that Tropical Cyclone Ellie will move back out to sea after hitting the coast. At that point it will be a tropical low, but it could develop back into a cyclone after leaving land.
Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, as they are predicting that it will track south along the coast after leaving land, heading towards Townsville and the area south of here …
ethan@OneProjectCloser // Feb 2, 2009 at 12:43 am
Bill, hope the cyclone misses you. Keep us posted…
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