The 2004–05 Australian region cyclone season was a slightly below average

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

season. It began on 1 November 2004 and ended on 30 April 2005. The regional tropical cyclone operational plan also defines a ''tropical cyclone year'' separately from a ''tropical cyclone season'', which runs from 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005. Tropical cyclones in this area are monitored by four

Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre A Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) is responsible for the distribution of information, advisories, and warnings regarding the specific program they have a part of, agreed by consensus at the World Meteorological Organization as ...

s (TCWCs): the

Australian Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government that is responsible for providing weather forecasts and meteorological services to Australia and neighbouring countries. It was established in 1906 unde ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Darwin, and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

; and TCWC

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

.
/ref> __TOC__

Systems

Tropical Cyclone Phoebe

On 30 August, an Low-pressure area, area of low pressure developed near the edge of

Météo-France Météo-France is the official French meteorological administration, also offering services to Andorra and Monaco. It has the powers of the state and can exercise them in relation to meteorology. Météo-France is in charge of observing, study ...

's area of responsibility within an unseasonably active

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

al band which coincided with the

Madden–Julian oscillation The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) is the largest element of the intraseasonal (30- to 90-day) variability in the tropical atmosphere. It was discovered in 1971 by Roland Madden and Paul Julian of the American National Center for Atmospheric ...

. Tracking towards the southeast, the low experience strong deep-level

wind shear Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...

which kept most of the

convection Convection is single or Multiphase flow, multiphase fluid flow that occurs Spontaneous process, spontaneously through the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoy ...

displaced from the center of circulation. On 31 August, convection managed to develop around the west and southwestern portions of the low before and was designated as Tropical Depression 01. The depression reached its peak intensity at this time with winds of 10-minute winds) and a minimum pressure of 999

hPa The pascal (symbol: Pa) is the unit of pressure in the International System of Units (SI). It is also used to quantify internal pressure, stress, Young's modulus, and ultimate tensile strength. The unit, named after Blaise Pascal, is an S ...

(

mbar The bar is a metric unit of pressure defined as 100,000 Pa (100 kPa), though not part of the International System of Units (SI). A pressure of 1 bar is slightly less than the current average atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea ...

). The system moved southeast and entered the

's area of responsibility on 1 September. The system was upgraded to Tropical Cyclone Phoebe early on 2 September when it was about 800 km west-northwest of the

Cocos Islands The Cocos (Keeling) Islands (), officially the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands (; ), are an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, comprising a small archipelago approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka and rel ...

. Phoebe quickly reached its peak strength that day, with winds of 85 km/h, as it continued to move to the southeast. The cyclone weakened as it moved over cooler water and dissipated about 550 km from the Cocos Islands. Phoebe posed no threat to any land.

Tropical Low (05S)

A tropical low developed in the Perth AOR on 2 December near the coast of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

. According to Perth, the storm had a maximum sustained winds of , while the JTWC assigned the storm peak sustained winds of and classifying it as a tropical storm.

Tropical Cyclone Raymond

A tropical low developed from an area of convection of the

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

coast on 30 December. The system drifted southeast, then turned to the northeast over the following days without significant development. The low began to drift to the southeast again on 1 January and the convection began to increase, with it becoming Tropical Cyclone Raymond on 2 January, when it was 460 km north-northeast of Broome. The cyclone peaked with 85 km/h winds as it moved east, and made landfall as a Category 1 cyclone just west of Kalumburu the same day. The cyclone weakened over land, and the remnant low continued east over the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, entering the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia. It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea. The northern boundary ...

on 5 January. The low reversed direction and dissipated by 10 January. Cyclone Raymond caused no damage, but brought the first heavy rain of the season to northern

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

Tropical Cyclone Sally

A area of convection began to develop 930 km west-southwest of

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

on 6 January, becoming a tropical low the next day. The low intensified as it drifted south and was named Sally 370 km east-southeast of the

on 8 January. Cyclone Sally slowly moved to the southwest, under the influence of a mid-level ridge to the southeast, reaching its peak with 95 km/h winds on 9 January. The storm then rapidly weakened as a result of the presence of dry air and increased

, before dissipating early on 10 January 460 km west-southwest of the Cocos Islands. Cyclone Sally had no effects on land.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Kerry

Tropical Cyclone Kerry developed from Tropical Depression 5F on 5 January in

RSMC Nadi The Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) is a Department of the government of Fiji responsible for providing weather forecasts and is based on the grounds of Nadi Airport in Nadi. The current director of Fiji Meteorological Service is Misaeli Funaki. ...

's Area of Responsibility, northeast of

Port Vila Port Vila ( ; ), or simply Vila (), is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in Shefa Province. The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 census. In 2020, the population of Port Vila formed 16.3% of the ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

. Kerry moved to the southwest with winds as it moved over Vanuatu. Once past the island, Kerry moved on a west-southwest course and it began to intensify after turning to the west. The storm reached a peak intensity of before turning towards the south-southeast. The storm began to weaken under vertical shear and was downgraded to a depression on 13 January.

Tropical Low (10S)

On 12 January the Perth Meteorological Center issued a TCF and the JTWC followed suit and they named the Low 10S.

Tropical Cyclone Tim

A tropical low located about 930 km north of Learmonth, Western Australia began to develop a deeper convection on 23 January, despite being beneath the

subtropical ridge The horse latitudes are the latitudes about 30 degrees north and south of the Equator. They are characterized by sunny skies, calm winds, and very little precipitation. They are also known as subtropical ridges or highs. It is a high-pressur ...

. The low became Tropical Cyclone Tim the next day, when it was 700 km southeast of Christmas Island. Tim moved slowly to the southwest, as a result of steering from an anticyclone to the southeast. The storm reached briefly reached a peak with wind of 85 km/h late on 23 January. Tim lost tropical cyclone status on 25 January to 470 km south-west of Christmas Island and the remnant continued west before dissipating. There was no damage as a result of Cyclone Tim.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Harvey

The Bureau of Meteorology began monitoring a tropical low off

Groote Eylandt Groote Eylandt ( Anindilyakwa: ''Ayangkidarrba''; meaning "island" ) is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fourth largest island in Australia. It was named by the explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and is Dutch for "large island" ...

in the

on 3 February 2005. The low intensified and was named Harvey three days later. The storm made landfall near the

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

border on 7 February as a Category 3 (Australian scale) system. Minor structural damage was reported along the Robinson River and

Mornington Island Mornington Island, also known as Kunhanhaa, is an island in the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Shire of Mornington, Queensland, Australia. It is the northernmost and, at , the largest of 22 islands that form the Wellesley Islands group. The larg ...

was battered by high winds and heavy rain, however no casualties were reported.
Significant weather summary
from the Bureau of Meteorology Australia.

Tropical Cyclone Vivienne

A tropical low developed within the

monsoon trough The monsoon trough is a convergence zone between the wind patterns of the southern and northern hemispheres. It is a portion of the Intertropical Convergence Zone in the Western Pacific,Bin WangThe Asian Monsoon.Retrieved 2008-05-03. and is dep ...

about 550 km northwest of

Broome, Western Australia Broome, also known as Rubibi by the Yawuru, Yawuru people, is a coastal Pearl hunting, pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. The town recorded a population of 14,6 ...

on 4 February. The low gradually became more organized as it drifted slowly to the southwest, but did not intensify until it became Tropical Cyclone Vivienne on 8 February. The cyclone peaked with 65 km/h winds and remained near stationary, before dissipating later that day. Oil and gas production in the

Timor Sea The Timor Sea (, , or ) is a relatively shallow sea in the Indian Ocean bounded to the north by the island of Timor with Timor-Leste to the north, Indonesia to the northwest, Arafura Sea to the east, and to the south by Australia. The Sunda Tr ...

was disrupted by Cyclone Vivienne.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Ingrid

A tropical low formed north of the

on 3 March, before crossing the

Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...

and into the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

. The tropical low intensified into a tropical cyclone, named Ingrid, on 6 March and rapidly intensified into a severe tropical cyclone later that day, peaking as a category 5 with 10-minute sustained winds of on 8 March. After peaking, Ingrid weakened to a category 4, making landfall on the Cape York Peninsula late on 9 March before emerging once again into the Gulf of Carpentaria. In the Gulf, Ingrid once again rapidly intensified, achieving its second and strongest peak on 11 March with winds of and a pressure of . The system passed just north of

Nhulunbuy Nhulunbuy () is a town and locality in the far north of the Northern Territory of Australia. Founded on the Gove Peninsula in north-east Arnhem Land when a bauxite mine and deep water port were established in the late 1960s, the town's econ ...

the next day, maintaining its intensity as it traveled north of the

Top End The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ...

. Ingrid then weakened before striking the

Tiwi Islands The Tiwi Islands ( meaning "two islands") are part of the Northern Territory, Australia, to the north of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin adjoining the Timor Sea. They comprise Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Island, Bathurst I ...

. After moving over water, Ingrid once again reintensified, achieving its final peak with winds of on 15 March. Later that day, Ingrid made its final landfall near Kalumburu on the

coast and rapidly weakened, falling below cyclone status on 17 March.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Willy

A tropical low began to develop on 8 March 830 km north of

Port Hedland, Western Australia Port Hedland ( Kariyarra: ''Marapikurrinya'') is the second largest town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with an urban population of 15,298 as of the , including the satellite town of South Hedland, away. It is also the site of the ...

. The low did not move as it developed and became Tropical Cyclone Willy in the same area. Willy moved slowly west-southwest, roughly parallel to the Australian coast, strengthening steadily in the favourable environment. It reached its peak with 140 km/h winds on 11 March when it was 550 km northwest of Onslow. Cyclone Willy then turned to the southwest and maintained its strength for a day before it began to weaken. The storm turned to the west and weakened into a remnant low on 14 March. The remnant continued to drift west away from Australia before dissipating a few days later. Oil production in the

was disrupted by Cyclone Willy, but there were no effects on land.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Adeline-Juliet

A tropical low formed roughly 710 km east-northeast of the

on 1 April. The system developed moved southwest towards the Cocos Islands and became Tropical Cyclone Juliet on 3 April, when it was 45 km east of the islands. The system steadily intensified as it moved west, becoming a severe tropical cyclone on 4 April. Cyclone Adeline crossed into

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

's area of responsibility on 5 April, by which time it had 140 km/h winds.

renamed the storm

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist Ro ...

when they assumed responsibility for the cyclone, as it passed west of 90°E. Cyclone Adeline triggered gale warnings on the Cocos Islands, where 160 mm of rain fell in one day. The storm caused minor damage and uprooted trees on the islands.

Tropical Low 11U

During 12 April a tropical low developed within the northern Arafura Sea. Over the next couple of days the system moved eastwards, with deep atmospheric convection developing over the western quadrants by 15 April. By this time the system was located about to the southwest of

and was producing gales and rough seas around Papua New Guinea. The system subsequently approached and interacted with south-eastern Papua New Guinea, before it moved into an area of increasing vertical wind shear and started weakening. The system was last formally noted during that day before it dissipated a few days later.

Storm names

TCWC Perth * Phoebe * Raymond * Sally * Tim * Vivienne * Willy * Adeline TCWC Brisbane * Harvey * Ingrid

Seasonal effects

, - , Phoebe , , , , bgcolor=#, Category 1 tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , None , , , , , , , - , 05S , , 3–5 December , , bgcolor=#, Tropical low , , bgcolor=#, , bgcolor=#, , , Indonesia , , , , , , , - , Raymond , , , , bgcolor=#, Category 1 tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Western Australia, Northern Territory , , , , , , , - , Sally , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , None , , , , , , , - , Kerry , 8–13 January , , , bgcolor=# , , bgcolor=# , , , None , , , , , , , - , 10S , , 11–17 January , , bgcolor=#, Tropical Low , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , None , , , , , , , - , Tim , , , , bgcolor=#, Category 1 tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , None , , , , , , , - , Harvey , 3–8 February , , , bgcolor=# , , bgcolor=# , , Northern Territory, Queensland , , 0.797 , 0 , , - , Vivienne , , , , bgcolor=#, Category 1 tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , None , , , , , , , - ,

Ingrid Ingrid may refer to: * Ingrid (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ingrid Burley (born 1986), rapper known mononymously as Ingrid * Ingrid (record label), also an artist collective * Tropical Storm Ingrid, various cy ...

, , , , bgcolor=#, Category 5 severe tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Papua New Guinea, Queensland, Northern Australia, Western Australia , , , , , , , - , Willy , 8–14 March , bgcolor=#, Category 3 severe tropical cyclone , bgcolor=# , , bgcolor=# , , , None , , None , , None , , , - , Adeline-Juliet , 2–5 April , , bgcolor=#, Category 3 severe tropical cyclone , , bgcolor=#, 85 , , bgcolor=#, 960 , ,

, , Minimal , , None , , , - , Unnamed , , 13–15 April , , bgcolor=#, Tropical Low , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Papua New Guinea , , Unknown , , None , -

References

External links

Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)
.
Australian Bureau of Meteorology

{{DEFAULTSORT:2004-05 Australian Region Cyclone Season Australian region cyclone seasons 2004 Aus 2005 Aus