LINDSAY

History

Tropical Cyclone Lindsay was a short-lived and weak system that developed in the far eastern Indian Ocean in the middle of 1996. TCWC Perth first identified a tropical low within the near-equatorial trough on 9 July, positioned roughly 500 km north-east of the Cocos Islands. Steered by a weak mid to upper level anticyclone, the low initially tracked towards the south-west before turning onto a more southerly heading on 10 July.

Later that day the system organised sufficiently to be classified a Category 1 tropical cyclone and given the name Lindsay. At 1000 UTC on 10 July it attained its peak intensity, with 10-minute sustained winds of 75 km/h. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert at 1500 UTC as convective organisation improved, and six hours later designated the system Tropical Cyclone 01S, assessing 1-minute sustained winds of 65 km/h at their own peak estimate.

Lindsay's period as a named cyclone proved brief. Almost immediately after warnings commenced, strong upper-level north-westerly flow moved over the system, causing rapid weakening. Both TCWC Perth and the JTWC issued final advisories on 11 July as Lindsay fell below cyclone intensity and took on extratropical characteristics. The remnant circulation was monitored as it drifted south-eastwards over open water, before being absorbed into a broad trough of low pressure on 13 July.

Lindsay remained well out to sea throughout its life and did not threaten the Cocos Islands or the Western Australian mainland, with no damage or casualties attributed to the cyclone. Occurring in July, it fell outside the conventional Australian cyclone season but within the 1996–97 tropical cyclone year, making it an unusual out-of-season development in a year that would later produce far more destructive storms.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia