Ernie

2016-17 season · AU201617_26U

Category 1

History

Severe Tropical Cyclone Ernie developed during the 2016–17 Australian region cyclone season. The system intensified to severe tropical cyclone status, reaching Category 5 intensity on the Australian scale, making it one of the most powerful storms of that season. Ernie tracked across the Indian Ocean to the northwest of Western Australia and did not make landfall on the Australian mainland, instead remaining offshore before weakening.

The 2016–17 season in which Ernie occurred was notable as the second-costliest Australian cyclone season on record, though the bulk of that damage was attributable to Cyclone Debbie rather than Ernie. The season as a whole produced nine named tropical cyclones, three of which reached severe tropical cyclone intensity, with Ernie being among them. It was the first season since 2014–15 to feature a severe tropical cyclone.

Due to Ernie's track remaining well offshore and away from populated coastal areas, significant impacts to communities, infrastructure, or agricultural areas were not recorded in connection with the storm. The cyclone represented a notable meteorological event for the season given the intensity it achieved, but its remote path over open ocean limited any direct consequences for the Australian mainland or nearby island territories.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia

View full track data (31 observations)
Date/Time (UTC)CategoryPositionPressureWind
2017-04-04 06:00:00 1 -9.9, 115.0 1008 hPa 10 km/h
2017-04-04 12:00:00 1 -10.3, 114.3 1008 hPa 10 km/h
2017-04-04 18:00:00 1 -10.8, 113.5 1008 hPa 10 km/h
2017-04-05 00:00:00 1 -11.2, 112.8 1008 hPa 10 km/h
2017-04-05 06:00:00 1 -11.6, 112.1 1006 hPa 10 km/h
2017-04-05 12:00:00 1 -11.8, 111.9 1003 hPa 13 km/h
2017-04-05 18:00:00 1 -12.5, 111.3 1001 hPa 15 km/h
2017-04-06 00:00:00 1 -13.0, 111.2 998 hPa 18 km/h
2017-04-06 06:00:00 1 -13.3, 110.9 995 hPa 21 km/h
2017-04-06 12:00:00 1 -13.9, 110.7 992 hPa 23 km/h
2017-04-06 18:00:00 1 -14.7, 110.4 987 hPa 28 km/h
2017-04-07 00:00:00 1 -14.9, 110.3 973 hPa 36 km/h
2017-04-07 06:00:00 1 -15.3, 110.4 951 hPa 49 km/h
2017-04-07 12:00:00 1 -15.8, 110.4 924 hPa 62 km/h
2017-04-07 18:00:00 1 -15.9, 110.4 927 hPa 59 km/h
2017-04-08 00:00:00 1 -16.2, 110.4 940 hPa 54 km/h
2017-04-08 06:00:00 1 -16.5, 109.9 946 hPa 49 km/h
2017-04-08 12:00:00 1 -16.6, 109.5 955 hPa 44 km/h
2017-04-08 18:00:00 1 -16.6, 108.7 966 hPa 41 km/h
2017-04-09 00:00:00 1 -17.0, 108.4 974 hPa 36 km/h
2017-04-09 06:00:00 1 -17.4, 107.5 973 hPa 33 km/h
2017-04-09 12:00:00 1 -17.7, 106.7 977 hPa 31 km/h
2017-04-09 18:00:00 1 -17.8, 105.3 985 hPa 26 km/h
2017-04-10 00:00:00 1 -18.2, 104.2 996 hPa 21 km/h
2017-04-10 06:00:00 1 -18.7, 103.0 1000 hPa 15 km/h
2017-04-10 12:00:00 1 -19.0, 101.9 1005 hPa 13 km/h
2017-04-10 18:00:00 1 -19.2, 101.0 1005 hPa 13 km/h
2017-04-11 00:00:00 1 -20.0, 100.2 1005 hPa 13 km/h
2017-04-11 06:00:00 1 -20.9, 99.4 1005 hPa 13 km/h
2017-04-11 12:00:00 1 -21.3, 98.8 1006 hPa 13 km/h
2017-04-11 18:00:00 1 -21.7, 98.2 1006 hPa 13 km/h