| Category 3 cyclone (Australian scale) | |
|---|---|
| Category 2 tropical cyclone (SSHS) | |
| Image of Severe Tropical Cyclone Frank near landfall on New Caledonia. | |
| Formed | February 10, 1999 |
| Dissipated | February 21, 1999 |
| Highest winds | 10-minute sustained: 150 km/h (90 mph) 1-minute sustained: 175 km/h (110 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 955 mbar (hPa; 28.2 inHg) |
| Fatalities | 7 |
| Damage | $150 million (1999 USD) |
| Areas affected | Queensland, Australia and New Caledonia |
| Part of the 1998–99 Australian region cyclone season 1998-99 South Pacific cyclone season |
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Severe Tropical Cyclone Rona-Frank (JTWC designations 20P and 22P; RSMC Nadi designation 16F) was a damaging tropical cyclone that made landfall on Queensland, Australia on February 11, 1999, before dissipating and reforming to hit New Caledonia nine days later.
Forming during the second week of February, Rona rapidly intensified just before making landfall, causing $150 million (1999 USD; $198 million 2011 USD) in damage in Queensland. After crossing the Cape York Peninsula, the upper-level circulation was eventually tracked moving back onto the Coral Sea and reforming into another tropical cyclone, now named Frank. Frank rapidly intensified before making landfall on New Caledonia in the early morning of February 20. Despite being stronger at landfall in New Caledonia, Frank caused only minor damage there.
Due to the severity of damage in Queensland, the name "Rona" was retired and replaced with "Ruby" on the Australian region's list of tropical cyclone names.
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During the second week of February 1999, a tropical low formed in the Coral Sea while embedded in a monsoon trough.[1] A middle- to upper-level trough over eastern Australia caused the tropical low to move slowly to the east. However, it began to weaken late on February 9 and had dissipated within 24 hours– causing the tropical low to slow down and become nearly stationary. The dissipation of the trough caused the upper levels of the tropical low to become favorable for development and as a result, the system rapidly intensified on February 10.[1][2]
Early on February 10, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) as the deep convection had increased in organization. In addition, it was noted that the upper-level outflow had improved as the system moved east-southeast at 7 km/h (4 mph).[3] Late that same day, the Tropical Cyclone Warning Center (TCWC) at Brisbane, Australia upgraded the tropical low into a category one tropical cyclone, naming it "Rona". At the time of the upgrade, the storm was 310 km (190 mi) east of the North Queensland coast.[1] Simultaneously, the JTWC upgraded Rona into a tropical storm, giving it the designation "20P".[3]
Early on February 11, TCWC Brisbane upgraded Rona to a category two tropical cyclone. Soon afterwards, a mid-level ridge south of the storm strengthened, causing Rona to rapidly accelerate to the west-northwest. At 1200 UTC, Rona reached its peak intensity as a category three severe tropical cyclone with winds of 130 km/h (80 mph).[4] Around this time, the maximum wind gust of 159 kilometres per hour (99 mph) was recorded, at Low Isles.[1] Severe Tropical Cyclone Rona made landfall near the mouth of the Daintree River at around 1300 UTC while still at peak intensity. Operationally, the JTWC assessed Rona to have made landfall with winds of 120 km/h (75 mph).[3] However, in their post-season analysis, this was lowered to 105 km/h (65 mph).[5] Five hours later, TCWC Brisbane downgraded Rona into a tropical low.[1] In addition, the JTWC issued their final advisory late on February 12 as Rona was predicted to move into the Gulf of Carpentaria and dissipate.[3] After February 12, the low-level circulation center of Rona became difficult to definitely identify, due to the formation of several smaller circulation centers. Despite this, the circulation at 850 hPa was still tracked as it curved back to the east to the Coral Sea.[1]
Late on February 16, the JTWC issued a TCFA for the system which was about 555 km (345 mi) east-northeast of Rockhampton.[2][6] At the time, satellite imagery showed a well-defined lower-level circulation center with deep convection.[7] Two hours later, the JTWC issued their first warning on the system, designating it "22P".[7][8] During the evening of February 17, the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RSMC) at Nadi, Fiji began monitoring the system as a tropical depression with the designation "16F".[2][9]
During the afternoon of February 18, the JTWC upgraded Tropical Depression 22P into a tropical storm.[8] Late that night, RSMC Nadi reported that Tropical Depression 16F had moved east of 160°E and intensified into a category one tropical cyclone, and named it "Frank. At the time of the upgrade, the storm was centered 690 km (430 mi) west-northwest of Nouméa, New Caledonia.[6][9] By this time, an upper-level trough over eastern Australia moved into the Tasman Sea, improving the poleward outflow. This caused Frank to rapidly intensify over the next 24 hours.[6] Frank was assessed to have made landfall near the northern tip of New Caledonia at peak intensity with winds of 145 km/h (90 mph) at 0000 UTC on February 20.[9] Operationally, the JTWC had assessed the peak intensity at 185 km/h (115 mph),[7] however this was lowered to 175 km/h (110 mph) in post-season analysis.[8]
After making landfall on New Caledonia, Frank maintained peak intensity for 18 hours.[8][9] Soon afterwards, Frank entered an area of northwesterly wind shear and cooler sea surface temperatures, causing Frank to weaken rapidly. During the morning of February 21, RSMC Nadi passed warning responsibility to TCWC Wellington as the cyclone had moved south of 25°S.[10] 18 hours later, Frank merged with a trough to form an intense extratropical cyclone.[6] This extratropical cyclone eventually made landfall on the South Island of New Zealand near Westport with monitoring of the system ceasing on February 27.[9]
| Wettest tropical cyclones in Australia |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precipitation | Storm | Location | ||
| Rank | (mm) | (in) | ||
| 1 | 1947 | 76.65 | Peter 1979 | Mt. Bellenden Ker[11] |
| 2 | 1870 | 73.62 | Rona-Frank 1999 | Mt. Bellenden Ker[11] |
| 3 | 1411 | 55.55 | Mackay Cyclone 1918 | Mackay |
| 4 | 1318 | 51.89 | Wanda 1974 | Mt. Glorious[12] |
| 5 | 927 | 36.50 | April 1898 cyclone | Whim Creek[13] |
| 6 | 907 | 35.71 | Feb. 1893 cyclone | Crohamhurst[12] |
| 7 | 900 | 35.43 | Feb 1954 cyclone | Springbrook[12] |
| 8 | 759 | 29.88 | Grace 2004 | Topaz[14] |
| 9 | 747 | 29.40 | Neville 1992 | Garden Point[15] |
| 10 | 732 | 28.81 | Carlos 2011 | Darwin[16] |
During its Queensland landfall, Cyclone Rona caused a 1 metre (3.3 ft) storm surge in Port Douglas. Also, at the mouth of the Mossman River, a 1.4 metres (4.6 ft) storm surge was noted. The highest rains associated with Rona, 1,870 millimetres (73.6 in), were measured at Bellenden Ker in Northern Queensland.[11] On February 12, a state of disaster was declared for Cairns and Innisfail due to the severity of damage caused by the storm.[17]
Strong winds and flooding caused significant crop and infrastructure damage from Cape Kimberly to Cape Tribulation. [6][18] In the Cow Bay area, two houses were destroyed, twelve others were damaged, and a car was crushed by a falling tree.[2] Seven deaths were attributed to the storm in Queensland.[19] Eventually, the damage estimates from Cyclone Rona totaled $150 million (1999 USD; $198 million 2011 USD) in Queensland.[20]
Despite passing only 27 km (17 mi) west of Nouméa, the overall damage in New Caledonia was minimal. Some of the townships in the northern and western sides of the island experienced power outages and disruptions to the water supply and communication with landslides on some coastal roads. In addition crop damage was found in the northeastern side of the island. Despite this, there were no reports of severe damage to infrastructure or any casualties.[2] Offshore, three men were found 545 km (339 mi) southwest of Nouméa after their yacht sank three days previously on February 21.[21]
Due to the damage from Cyclone Rona, the name "Rona" was retired and was replaced with "Ruby". However, due to the minimal damage in New Caledonia, the name "Frank" was not retired and remains on the South Pacific naming lists.[22]
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