01.29.11

Severe Tropical Cyclone Bianca’s Strange Route

Posted in Non-US Weather, Tropical Weather, Weather News at 8:00 am by Rebekah

Severe Tropical Cyclone Bianca, a weakening Category 3 tropical cyclone on the Australian rating system (Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale), has been taking a very strange trek along the western coast of Australia.

Satellite image, history, and forecast track of Bianca along Australia’s west coast. Source: CIMSS

Note how Bianca formed off the northwestern coast of Australia and proceeded to move almost parallel to the coast, all the way down to the southwestern coast, where the cyclone is expected to make landfall on Sunday.

Bianca’s maximum sustained winds are about 75 to 85 mph, but she is expected to keep weakening as she encounters cooler water temperatures and increased wind shear. The center of the cyclone is forecast to make landfall just south of Perth as a weak Aus. Cat. 1 (tropical storm on the SS-scale) or tropical low (tropical depression). Primary threats to the coast will be rough seas, heavy rainfall with possibly some localized flooding, and strong wind gusts up to about 60 mph.

Bianca’s history and forecast track, as of Saturday morning Australian Western Standard Time, from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Bianca (click to enlarge), at 6:30 UTC on the 28th, via NASA’s Aqua/MODIS satellite (looks more impressive than the more recent image from early on the 29th…go to the “real-time” tab to see the latest images)

As a follow up to my post on Severe Tropical Cyclone Wilma the other day, Wilma is now only a shadow of her former self…the cyclone brushed past the northern coast of New Zealand, and now is just a low falling apart southeast of New Zealand.

For the latest on Tropical Cyclone Bianca, check out the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Weather Underground, and CIMSS. To learn about tropical cyclone ratings in different ocean basins, check out the chart on this older blog post of mine.

Permalink