DAPHNE-FIFI

History

Tropical Cyclone Daphne–Fifi was a long-lived Indian Ocean system that was handled operationally as two separate cyclones, receiving the name Daphne in the Australian region and Fifi after passing west of 90°E into the Météo-France (La Réunion) zone of responsibility.

The system emerged from the same highly active monsoon trough that also generated Cyclones Bruno and Errol in mid-January 1982. The precursor low was first identified on 11 January and strengthened steadily, attaining tropical cyclone intensity at 09:00 UTC on 12 January. Early in its life it drifted towards the southeast before turning and tracking across the open eastern Indian Ocean, passing in the general vicinity of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands while slowly deepening. It later curved towards the east.

Daphne–Fifi reached its peak in the early hours of 16 January, with maximum sustained winds near 95 km/h (about 50 knots) and an estimated minimum central pressure of 986 hPa. Some analyses of the system's later, western phase as Fifi credit it with considerably greater intensity — severe tropical cyclone status with a central pressure near 960 hPa — before shear and cooler waters at higher latitudes brought about its decline. From 19 January the cyclone accelerated towards the southeast and weakened rapidly, dissipating within a few days as the remnant circulation moved across the Western Australian coast.

Because the cyclone spent essentially its entire life over open water, well clear of the Kimberley and Pilbara coastlines, it produced no coastal wind damage, no mainland flooding, and no casualties or injuries. Its only recorded effect on land activity was the disruption of shipping operations at Christmas Island, while gale warnings were issued for vessels transiting the eastern Indian Ocean and North West Shelf.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia