BOBBY

History

Severe Tropical Cyclone Bobby formed within the monsoon trough to the northwest of Broome, Western Australia, in mid-February 1984, during what proved to be a record-breaking Australian region cyclone season. The system organised into a tropical cyclone on 18 February and followed a steady southwestward track, running roughly parallel to the Western Australian coastline while remaining over open water throughout its life. Bobby reached peak intensity on 21 February as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone, with an estimated minimum central pressure of 950 hPa, while positioned over the Indian Ocean northwest of North West Cape. After peaking, the system encountered cooler sea surface temperatures and an unfavourable atmospheric environment, weakening progressively before dissipating over open water on 23 February 1984. Because the storm's destructive core never made landfall, no structural damage or casualties were reported on the Western Australian coast. The storm's offshore track did, however, prompt precautionary suspensions of commercial shipping operations and temporary evacuations of oil and gas platforms in the region, resulting in minor financial impacts to maritime industries. Bobby is frequently confused in historical records with the far more destructive 1995 cyclone of the same name, a separate Category 4 system that struck Onslow and resulted in seven fatalities, ultimately leading to the name being retired from the Bureau of Meteorology's naming lists.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia