1987–88 Australian region cyclone season

Seasonal summary

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PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:11 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:06/12/1987 till:09/12/1987 color:TL text:"Ariny (TL)" from:06/01/1988 till:14/01/1988 color:C2 text:"Agi (C2)" from:28/01/1988 till:02/02/1988 color:C3 text:"Frederic (C3)" from:06/02/1988 till:12/02/1988 color:C4 text:"Gwenda (C4)" from:19/02/1988 till:01/03/1988 color:C3 text:"Charlie (C3)" from:17/05/1988 till:20/05/1988 color:C1 text:"Herbie (C1)" bar:Month width:6 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/12/1987 till:31/12/1987 text:December from:01/01/1988 till:31/01/1988 text:January from:01/02/1988 till:28/02/1988 text:February from:01/03/1988 till:31/03/1988 text:March from:01/04/1988 till:30/04/1988 text:April from:01/05/1988 till:31/05/1988 text:May

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Systems

Tropical Low Ariny

|10-min winds=30 |1-min winds=

Tropical Cyclone Agi

|10-min winds=50 |1-min winds=70

Cyclone Agi veered away from the main islands of Papua New Guinea's Milne Bay province after flattening many buildings, uprooting trees and disrupting water supplies. Agi brought heavy rain, high tides and winds gusting at more than 100 km/h to the remote islands it brushed at the eastern tip of the PNG mainland since it formed and began to swirl through the area on Sunday.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Frederic

|10-min winds=80 |1-min winds=65 Frederic stayed at sea.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Gwenda-Ezenina

|10-min winds=100 |1-min winds=90 Gwenda stayed at sea and entered the South-West Indian Ocean basin on 12 February and was renamed as Ezezina.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Charlie

|10-min winds=80 |1-min winds=65 Early on 21 February, a tropical low formed over the Coral Sea. The system was upgraded to a tropical cyclone at 18:00 UTC on 22 February, given the name Charlie. Charlie continued to strengthen for around a day while turning towards the south, however began to weaken soon after. Following a period of slight weakening, Charlie maintained its intensity and slowly moved towards the west. Early on 27 February, Charlie began to intensify once again, continuing its westerly movement until 36 hours later, when it turned towards the south. Charlie made its first landfall near Cape Bowling Green and reached its peak intensity as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone during 29 February and later made its second landfall, in Upstart Bay. The cyclone weakened rapidly over land and dissipated on 1 March.

As Charlie made landfall in a sparsely populated area, structural damage was minimal, however significant crop damage occurred, amounting to $15 million (1990 AUD).

Tropical Cyclone Herbie

Main article: Cyclone Herbie

|10-min winds=40 |1-min winds=35

Herbie made landfall in Western Australia on 20 May, making it the only tropical cyclone to hit the state in May, it caused $15.6 million in damages, and was later retired, though it did not cause any fatalities.

References

References

1. "Tropical Cyclone Operational plan for the South Pacific & Southeast Indian Ocean 2008". WMO.
2. "Tropical Cyclone Charlie". BOM.
3. "Cyclone Charlie". HardenUp.