Monsterorkaan Yasi op weg naar Queensland, Australie

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Alle ogen gericht op cycloon Yasi

De bewoners van Rockhampton, die afgelopen maand getroffen werden door overstromingen kunnen hun borst nat maken. De bewoners zijn gewaarschuwd om zich voor te bereiden. Yasi zal naar alle waarschijnlijkheid een potentiële gevaarlijke cycloon gaan worden, die woensdagavond of donderdag met een categorie 3 aan land zal komen. Momenteel berekenen de weermodellen van de US Navy dat er windstoten voor kunnen gaan komen die op kunnen lopen tot 200 kilometer per uur.

Verwacht wordt dat cycloon Yasi aan land komt tussen Cooktown en Hervey Bay. De cycloon is minstens vier keer zo groot als cycloon Anthony. Naarmate de dag vordert zal er meer informatie volgen door het meteorologisch bureau (BOM), die hebben de verantwoordelijkheid op dat gebied. De computer modellen suggereren dat het heel snel naar het oosten zal trekken in de komende paar dagen.

Er moet niet alleen gekeken worden naar de wind die de cycloon met zich meebrengt, ook enorme hoeveelheden neerslag worden er verwacht in het centraal Queensland later deze week. De verwachtte neerslag loopt momenteel uiteen van meer dan 200mm voor St Lawrence, 150mm voor Rockhampton en bijna 300mm bij Mackay. Deze enorme hoeveelheden neerslag kunnen makkelijk leiden tot overstromingen.

©onweer-online

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Premier Anna Bligh says the cyclone bearing down on the Queensland coast has the potential to be the biggest the state has ever seen.

Ms Bligh is calling on Queenslanders to prepare for gale-force winds, torrential rain and massive storm surges when Cyclone Yasi crosses the coast on Wednesday night.

Authorities fear the massive cyclone, which could pack winds up to 260 kilometres per hour, may be as intense as Cyclone Larry, which devastated parts of far north Queensland in 2006.

"[Yasi] may well be one of the largest and most significant cyclones that we have ever had to deal with," Ms Bligh said.

"This is an event we have to take seriously. I know cyclones can at the last minute turn off the coast, and I certainly hope this one does.

"But the bureau advises me in the most serious terms, that all of the modelling right now says this is going to cross our coast."

Ms Bligh says Yasi is expected to turn into a category-four system by Wednesday.

She says while areas between Cooktown and Maryborough are likely to be affected, the Innisfail to Mackay region will bear the brunt of the cyclone.

"We expect to see gales in that Innisfail to Mackay region of more than 100kph by mid-morning on Wednesday," she said.

"We are encouraging people in that region to start stocking up and begin preparing yourselves, your homes and your families for a very significant event."

She says the threat of the cyclone is compounded by severe rainfall in areas already saturated by a wet summer.

"In addition to the effects of a cyclone, we are preparing in that Innisfail to Mackay region for potential flooding of low-lying waterfront areas," she said.

"The best advice we can give to people in those areas is to start considering possible relocation on Tuesday."

Ms Bligh says the rain could affect areas in central and western Queensland still reeling from December's floods.

"We expect to see this event to become a significant rainfall event in areas to the south and surrounding where it crosses the coast.

"That means we can expect very significant rainfall, in some cases up to a metre, into catchments that are already saturated."

"We are currently doing modelling into what that might mean, particularly into areas such as the central and western areas of Queensland... which we have already seen significant flooding in."

All ports from Cairns to Mackay will be closed by tomorrow afternoon and the Premier is urging those with waterfront properties in the affected areas to evacuate.

Evacuations have already started at some nursing homes in the main danger zone and at Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays.

Weather forecasters says it is very unusual to have two cyclones tracking the same path only days apart.

Yasi is tracking a very similar path to Cyclone Anthony that crossed the coast near Bowen on Sunday night.

Forecaster Greg Connors says he cannot remember anything quite like it.

"Usually at this time of year the Coral Sea is constantly changing, but for the next few days it's showing a general westerly flow and that flow is capturing not only Anthony but also the upstream Tropical Cyclone Yasi," he said.

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Very dangerous Tropical Cyclone Yasi headed for Australia's flooded Queensland
With February nearly upon us, the traditional peak of the Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season is here, and the waters surrounding Australia have been exceptionally active over the past week. We had the year's first two Category 4 tropical cyclones last week, Tropical Cyclone Wilma and Tropical Cyclone Bianca. Wilma passed over American Samoa as a strong tropical storm, and hit Tonga as a Category 3 storm, causing substantial damage to the islands, but no deaths or injuries. Wilma brushed New Zealand, bringing flooding and landslides to the North Island, and was the strongest tropical cyclone to affect that country in fourteen years, according to weatherwatch.co.nz. Tropical Cyclone Bianca skirted the west coast of Australia and dissipated before making landfall. Tropical Cyclone Anthony hit flood-ravaged Queensland, Australia, over the weekend, as a weak tropical storm with 40 - 50 mph winds. Fortunately, Anthony dropped only modest amounts of rain, and no new flooding disaster occurred in Queensland, which is struggling to recover from record floods. As reported in the latest Australian Bureau of Meteorology climate statement and flood summary, the past four months (September - December) have been the rainiest such period in Queensland's history, and the resulting flooding disaster has been Australia's most expensive natural disaster in history.

Queensland is in serious danger of renewed extreme flooding this week from Tropical Cyclone Yasi. Yasi has intensified to a Category 2 storm with 105 mph winds, and is undergoing a period of rapid intensification that is expected to take it to Category 4 strength. Yasi is expected to hit Queensland on Wednesday, probably as a major Category 3 or stronger storm. In addition the storm's damaging winds and storm surge, Yasi will bring torrential rains. The GFS model is predicting that Yasi will dump 5 - 10 inches of rain over a large swath of Queensland, which would likely cause destructive flooding.

One positive note: the European Center model was remarkably accurate predicting the formation of Yasi over a week in advance, so Queensland has had plenty of time to prepare for the arrival of the storm.

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Op maandag 31 januari 2011 21:39 schreef Frutsel het volgende:
Volgens mij is het landfallpunt naar het noorden opgeschoven. Volgens mij was het eerst meer richting Townsville en Bowen, nu bijna direct-hit met Cairns

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Main article: Cyclone Larry
Tropical Cyclone Larry struck areas to the south of Cairns at 7 a.m. on 20 March 2006. Cyclone Larry crossed land near the town of Innisfail, 100 km (62 mi) south of Cairns as a category five cyclone. It was downgraded to a category four cyclone shortly before midday, and further downgraded to a category three cyclone a few hours later. Wind gusts of up to 300 km/h (186 mph) were recorded around the Cairns region, with wind gusts up to 180 km/h (112 mph) reported in the city. It is estimated that about one in four houses in Cairns and surrounding areas were affected by Cyclone Larry