Cyclone Alby
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| Category 4 cyclone (SSHS) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Formed | March 27, 1978 | |
| Dissipated | April 4, 1978 | |
| Highest winds |
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| Lowest pressure | Unknown | |
| Damage | approx $39 million (2003 AUD) | |
| Fatalities | 5 direct | |
| Areas affected |
Western Australia, Australia | |
| Part of the Pre-1980 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons |
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Cyclone Alby was the 29th tropical cyclone in the 1977-78 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season. It passed near the southwest corner of Australia, causing widespread damage to the area.
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[edit] Storm history
On March 27, a tropical depression developed in the eastern Indian Ocean between Indonesia and Australia. It drifted to the southwest, and slowly strengthened into a tropical storm on the 29th. Alby continued slowly southwestward, and attained cyclone status on March 30. The rate of intensification, which was slower earlier in its life, became more steady towards strengthening, and reached the equivalent of Category 3 status on April 1.
Tropical Cyclone Alby turned more to the south, and quickly reached a peak of 135 mph later on April 1. After maintaining its strength for 30 hours, Alby weakened as it turned to the southeast. Its forward momentum increased over the southeast Indian Ocean, and Alby was only an 85 mph cyclone as it passed off the southwest coast of Australia on April 4. It continued rapidly to the southeast, and became extratropical on April 5 while south of the continent.
[edit] Impact
On the 4th of April, Tropical Cyclone Alby passed close to the southwest corner of Western Australia, killing five people and causing widespread but mostly minor damage to the southwest. The damage bill was estimated to be $39 million (2003 dollars). A man was blown from the roof of a shed and a woman was killed by a falling pine tree. Another man was killed when a tree fell on the bulldozer he was operating and two men drowned when their dinghy overturned at Albany. Storm surge and destructive waves caused coastal inundation and erosion from Perth to Busselton, damaging the Busselton Jetty and Fremantle Harbour. Fires fanned by the strong winds burned an estimated 1,140 km² of forest and farming land.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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