Billy

History

Severe Tropical Cyclone Billy originated on 17 December 2008 as a tropical low in the Arafura Sea, northwest of Darwin in the Northern Territory. The system moved into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, developing slowly before being named Billy on the night of 18 December when it reached Category 1 intensity. On 20 December, Billy crossed the coast as a Category 2 cyclone, making landfall approximately 65 kilometres north of Wyndham in Western Australia. After landfall it weakened to a tropical low and tracked southwest, briefly moving offshore just north of Kuri Bay before redeveloping into a tropical cyclone on 22 December as it turned to the north-northeast.

Billy underwent rapid intensification late on 24 December, reaching Category 4 strength on Christmas Day and taking on the characteristics of an annular cyclone. It subsequently weakened to Category 3 following an eyewall replacement cycle, by which point the system was moving away from the Australian coast. The cyclone continued to lose intensity, dropping to Category 1 on 27 December and weakening to a tropical low on 28 December. The primary recorded impacts occurred in remote northwestern Western Australia, where the indigenous communities of Kalumburu and Oombulgurri were isolated by floodwaters, with roads and airstrips rendered impassable.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia