ALFRED
1985-86 season · AU198586_10U
History
Tropical Cyclone Alfred was a weak, short-lived and erratic system that formed in the Gulf of Carpentaria in March 1986. Its origins lay in a tropical low that developed within the monsoon trough over the central Gulf on 3 March. With only weak and variable steering flow in the surrounding environment, the low drifted slowly southward and then traced a slow clockwise loop over the open waters of the southern Gulf across 4 and 5 March.
The system finally consolidated on 6 March, when the Bureau of Meteorology's Darwin Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre named it Alfred and assessed it as a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian scale. Alfred then began a steady southwestward track towards the Northern Territory coast. Peak intensity was reached late on 6 March, with a minimum central pressure of about 994 hPa and maximum ten-minute sustained winds of roughly 65–75 km/h, with localised gusts to around 95 km/h.
The cyclone phase proved brief. Increasing vertical wind shear, combined with interaction with land as it neared the coast, eroded the system, and Alfred had weakened back to a tropical depression by the time it crossed the southwestern Gulf of Carpentaria coastline near the Sir Edward Pellew Group, in the Borroloola area, on 7 March. It moved inland over the Northern Territory and dissipated rapidly on 8 March.
Impacts were minor. Communities along the southern Gulf coast, particularly around Borroloola and the Sir Edward Pellew Islands, experienced monsoonal showers, squally winds and elevated tides. Rainfall produced minor rises in local river catchments, but flooding on land remained moderate and short-lived. Marine warnings were issued for fishing vessels and coastal barges working the southern Gulf, and a number of craft moved to sheltered anchorages ahead of landfall. No deaths, injuries or significant structural damage were attributed to Alfred.
Alfred was one of several systems to affect northern Australia during the 1985–86 season, and among the least consequential.
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia
View full track data (22 observations)
| Date/Time (UTC) | Category | Position | Pressure | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986-03-02 18:00:00 | 1 | -14.8, 150.2 | 1005 hPa | 10 km/h |
| 1986-03-03 00:00:00 | 1 | -15.1, 150.1 | 1006 hPa | 10 km/h |
| 1986-03-03 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.4, 150.0 | 1004 hPa | 10 km/h |
| 1986-03-03 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.5, 150.0 | 1005 hPa | 10 km/h |
| 1986-03-03 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.5, 150.0 | 1003 hPa | 10 km/h |
| 1986-03-04 00:00:00 | 1 | -15.5, 150.0 | 1004 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 1986-03-04 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.5, 150.0 | 1003 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 1986-03-04 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.5, 150.0 | 1004 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 1986-03-04 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.6, 150.1 | 1003 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 1986-03-05 00:00:00 | 1 | -15.8, 150.5 | 1005 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 1986-03-05 06:00:00 | 1 | -16.0, 151.0 | 1004 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1986-03-05 12:00:00 | 1 | -16.2, 151.4 | 1004 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1986-03-05 18:00:00 | 1 | -16.3, 152.0 | 1003 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1986-03-06 00:00:00 | 1 | -16.4, 152.7 | 1003 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1986-03-06 06:00:00 | 1 | -16.5, 153.5 | 999 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1986-03-06 12:00:00 | 1 | -16.5, 155.1 | 995 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 1986-03-06 18:00:00 | 1 | -16.5, 155.1 | 995 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 1986-03-07 00:00:00 | 1 | -16.5, 156.2 | 995 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 1986-03-07 06:00:00 | 1 | -16.7, 158.0 | 995 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 1986-03-07 12:00:00 | 1 | -17.2, 160.0 | 994 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1986-03-07 18:00:00 | 1 | -17.7, 162.0 | 992 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1986-03-08 00:00:00 | 1 | -18.5, 164.0 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |