HERBIE

History

Tropical Cyclone Herbie developed from an area of low pressure identified northwest of the Cocos Islands on 17 May 1988. The Bureau of Meteorology began tracking the disturbance as a tropical low later that day, and it strengthened sufficiently to be named Herbie as a Category 1 system early on 18 May. Within hours the cyclone reached an initial peak, with ten-minute sustained winds near 75 km/h and a central pressure of 990 hPa. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center, which had designated the system Tropical Depression 21S, also classified it as a tropical storm at about this time.

On 19 May satellite imagery revealed that a new centre of low pressure had formed roughly 300 km to the south, effectively relocating the cyclone. Herbie then accelerated sharply towards the southeast and began transitioning to an extratropical system as it raced toward the Western Australian coast. Its forward speed reached 70 km/h at times, and between 20 and 21 May it covered about 1,500 km. Early on 21 May the centre crossed the coast at Shark Bay, with a central pressure of 980 hPa and gusts to 120 km/h. The system continued rapidly southeast, reaching the Great Australian Bight while still holding tropical characteristics, and lost its identity as an extratropical low south of the continent early on 22 May.

The cyclone's speed left almost no time to prepare, and residents of Denham reported that it arrived with virtually no warning, though most tourists had left the day before. A two-metre storm surge breached Denham's retaining wall, flooded low-lying foreshore areas and left fishing boats stranded in the streets, while gusts estimated near 160 km/h stripped roofs from around 15 houses. Moderate structural and extensive banana plantation damage occurred between Carnarvon and Denham. Rainfall of around 50 mm, locally near 100 mm, flooded the Irwin and Greenough Rivers at Dongara, while severe dust storms affected areas north of the track. Offshore, the 30,000-tonne freighter MV Korean Star broke in two; all 19 crew were rescued uninjured. Damage totalled about A$20 million, and the name Herbie was subsequently retired.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia