Cyclone Monica going down on Darwin

[tocqueville]

'Perfect cyclone' bears down on Australian city Mon Apr 24, 3:25 AM ET

SYDNEY (AFP) - A hugely destructive cyclone described as a "perfect" storm is bearing down on the isolated northern Australian city of Darwin, devastated by a killer cyclone in 1974.

Packing winds of up to 350 kilometres (218 miles) an hour, Tropical Cyclone Monica was moving relentlessly towards Darwin as it turned towards the coast from the Arafura Sea, the government's weather bureau said.

"It's probably the best developed cyclone I have seen in many, many years," said David Alexander, a senior forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology.

"It's got a perfect circular eye, it's right at the top of a category five range, so it's a very, very severe cyclone."




http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060424/sc_afp/australiaweathercyclone_060424072326

[DUHandle]

1. You teaser, you

I thought Ms. Lewinski was back in the public eye.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

10. "Survival of the Testes?"

:shrug:

[uppityperson]

2. oh dang it all.

good luck Darwinians.

[Pacifist Patriot]

3. Yep, no global warming. Nothing to look at here folks. Move along.

[SpiralHawk]

4. "George AWOL Bush: "The Aussis are imagining all this shit...

Everyone knows that global warming and climate change is a made-up liberal conspiracy. If those Aussies have any 'real' problems, we can loan them Brownie. He's got plenty of spare time after showing how we republicons deal with big storms. We always do a heckuva job."

[phantom power]

5. This was a monster storm. 180mph sustained, 879mb.

It looks like Darwin will not take a direct hit, and major damage isn't expected. But 2 of the most powerful cyclones in south-hemisphere history happened this season.

The new world is coming.

[uppityperson]

6. AU news report

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18922011-2,00.html

ONE of the most severe storms ever to strike Australia is tracking a relentless path towards Darwin after crossing the Northern Territory coastline.
Monica, a category five cyclone packing winds of up to 350km/h near its core, touched down at Maningrida, in the territory's far north, about 7pm (ACST) yesterday.

As it moves across northwestern Arnhem Land in a west, southwest direction, the storm is expected to weaken.

But forecasters warn it could top Cyclone Tracy, which destroyed Darwin on Christmas Eve 1974, killing 65 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

"This is one of the worst storms to ever hit the area," said a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Meteorology. The winds are incredibly strong and gales will continue to be felt in areas long after the core of the cyclone has passed."

Monica is expected to be a category four or three cyclone by the time it reaches Darwin this afternoon... (nore@link)

[phantom power]

8. Hmm. Maybe they will be hit after all? I hope not.

[shain from kane]

7. It's Clinton's fault for sure. n/t

[uppityperson]

9. downgraded to Cat 2

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18922596-28477,00.html

YCLONE Monica was today downgraded to a category two to the relief of Darwin residents who had been on standby for one of the severest storms to hit Australia.
The Bureau of Meteorology said in its 5am bulletin that Monica had weakened significantly from a category five to a category two after crossing the Northern Territory coast.

Monica is still expected to hit Darwin later today.

At 4am (CST) Monica was located over land about 15km west-south-west of Jabiru and 200km east of Darwin, moving west-south-west at 20km/h.

Destructive winds with gusts to 125km/h were being experienced near Jabiru and were expected to hit the Darwin-Daly area later this morning....