KAY

History

Tropical Cyclone Kay developed from a tropical low that formed in the Gulf of Papua on 5 April 1987, late in the 1986–87 season. Tracking west-southwestward, the low gradually organised and was named Kay by the Bureau of Meteorology's Darwin Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre on 9 April, when it briefly reached Category 1 strength to the north of the Northern Territory coastline.

Its early life was disrupted almost immediately. Strong upper-level easterly shear tore the deep convection away from the low-level circulation, leaving an exposed centre that weakened back to a depression of about 1002 hPa. In that degraded state it passed across the Cobourg Peninsula and over Melville and Bathurst Islands north of Darwin on 10 April, bringing heavy monsoonal rain and squally winds to those areas but causing no structural damage or gales on the mainland.

Emerging over the warm waters of the Timor Sea, the system reorganised rapidly. By 12 April it had moved into the Bureau's Western Region and regained cyclone status, strengthening to Category 2 on the Australian scale. Kay reached its peak late on 12 April with a minimum central pressure near 976 hPa and maximum 10-minute sustained winds of about 110 km/h, with gusts to roughly 150 km/h, holding that intensity for around 24 hours as it continued west-southwestward off the northwestern Australian coast.

From 14 April the cyclone tracked into higher latitudes over the open Indian Ocean, where cooler sea surface temperatures and renewed shear eroded its structure. Kay fell below cyclone intensity on 16 April and was absorbed into a broad maritime trough on 17 April, roughly 1,000 km west of the Western Australian coast.

Although Kay's cyclone phase was entirely over water, it proved deadly at sea. Two Indonesian fishing vessels capsized in the heavy seas the system generated near Scott Reef on about 16 April, killing sixteen fishermen; five survivors were rescued and reported the sinkings to Australian authorities days afterwards. Gale and storm warnings were maintained across the North West Shelf, but offshore rigs and platforms escaped damage.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia