GLENDA

History

Severe Tropical Cyclone Glenda originated as a tropical disturbance in the southwestern Gulf of Carpentaria on 15 March 2006. The system tracked westward across the Top End and into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf before crossing the northern tip of Western Australia and emerging into the Indian Ocean on 26 March. Once over open water, Glenda underwent rapid intensification, reaching Category 5 status on the Australian scale by 28 March with peak sustained winds of 205 km/h, gusts to 295 km/h, and a central pressure of 910 hPa — placing it among the five most intense cyclones on record in the Australian region.

Increasing vertical wind shear and land interaction caused Glenda to weaken progressively before it made landfall near Onslow around 10 pm WST on 30 March as a marginal Category 3 system. It degraded to a tropical low the following day.

The precursor disturbance brought record flooding to the Kimberley region, washing out roads near Kununurra and prompting the evacuation of six people. At landfall, Glenda downed trees and power lines, leaving approximately 2,000 Karratha residents briefly without power, and broke windows at Onslow's hospital. Direct damage totalled around A$1.2 million, though economic losses from disrupted oil and gas production and shipping reached considerably higher. No deaths or injuries occurred. The Bureau of Meteorology subsequently retired the name Glenda.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia