GREG

History

Tropical Cyclone Greg was a short-lived and comparatively weak system that developed entirely within the Gulf of Carpentaria in early March 1990. It began as a shallow tropical low embedded in an active monsoon trough over the northern Gulf on 1 March. Strong anticyclonic outflow aloft allowed the disturbance to consolidate quickly, and it was upgraded to a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian scale early on 2 March, when the Darwin Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre assigned the name Greg.

Drifting over the warm but shallow waters of the central Gulf, Greg curved slowly southward and reached its greatest strength on 3 March, with a central pressure of about 990 hPa and 10-minute sustained winds near 70–75 km/h (about 40 knots); gusts were estimated to reach 100 km/h. The system's peak was brief. By 4 March, increasing vertical wind shear began stripping deep convection away from the low-level circulation, and Greg fell below tropical cyclone intensity early on 5 March. The remnant low crossed the southern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria later that day and dissipated rapidly once inland.

Because the system had already weakened before reaching land, effects on southern Gulf communities were limited to squally winds, raised tides and monsoonal rain squalls, with no destructive gales or significant flooding. Marine warnings were issued for fishing vessels and shipping operating in the Gulf. No deaths, injuries or structural damage were attributed to Greg, which was one of numerous systems recorded during an above-average 1989–90 Australian region season.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia