MARCELLE
1972-73 season · AU197273_14U
History
Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcelle was a late-season, unusually long-lived system that formed in the eastern Indian Ocean, well west of Indonesia, on 29 April 1973. Originating from a late-season monsoon low near 10°S, 105°E, the disturbance organised quickly and was named by the Bureau of Meteorology's Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre in Perth on 30 April as it drifted slowly south-eastward toward the Western Australian coast.
Over the following days Marcelle intensified over warm waters, reaching its peak on 3 May as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian scale. At peak intensity the central pressure fell to about 965 hPa, with maximum sustained winds of roughly 130–140 km/h and gusts exceeding 180 km/h over open ocean. At that time the system was situated some 600 km west of the Pilbara coastline.
A mid-latitude trough approaching from the south-west then broke down the steering ridge, causing Marcelle to recurve sharply and accelerate southward down the Western Australian maritime corridor. Encountering increasing wind shear and cooler sea surface temperatures at higher latitudes, the cyclone lost its warm-core structure and completed extratropical transition on 8 May. The decaying system crossed the south-west coast near Busselton, with effects also felt toward Albany, before moving away and dissipating south of the continent over the Great Australian Bight around 9 May.
Despite no longer being a tropical cyclone at landfall, Marcelle's remnants remained vigorous. Severe gale-force gusts, heavy rain and abnormally high tides affected the Perth metropolitan area, Bunbury, Busselton and Albany. Structural wind damage was reported in southern townships, with unroofed buildings, fallen trees and damage to power infrastructure. Heavy swells combined with high tides produced moderate erosion along exposed south-western beaches, and marine warnings were maintained for shipping from the North West Shelf south to Cape Leeuwin. No direct fatalities were attributed to the system.
Marcelle was the final tropical cyclone of the 1972–73 Australian region season, an active year that also produced the catastrophic Flores cyclone.
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia
View full track data (81 observations)
| Date/Time (UTC) | Category | Position | Pressure | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973-04-29 00:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 87.2 | 1001 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 1973-04-29 03:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 86.9 | 1000 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 1973-04-29 06:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 86.5 | 999 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 1973-04-29 09:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 86.2 | 997 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1973-04-29 12:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 85.8 | 996 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1973-04-29 15:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 85.4 | 995 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 1973-04-29 18:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 85.0 | 994 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 1973-04-29 21:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 84.6 | 993 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1973-04-30 00:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 84.2 | 992 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1973-04-30 03:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 83.8 | 992 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1973-04-30 06:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 83.5 | 991 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1973-04-30 09:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 83.1 | 989 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-04-30 12:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 82.8 | 988 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-04-30 15:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 82.4 | 987 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-04-30 18:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 82.1 | 986 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-04-30 21:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 81.7 | 985 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-05-01 00:00:00 | 1 | -8.8, 81.4 | 983 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1973-05-01 03:00:00 | 1 | -8.9, 81.1 | 982 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1973-05-01 06:00:00 | 1 | -8.9, 80.8 | 981 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1973-05-01 09:00:00 | 1 | -8.9, 80.5 | 980 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1973-05-01 12:00:00 | 1 | -9.1, 80.2 | 979 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1973-05-01 15:00:00 | 1 | -9.3, 79.9 | 978 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1973-05-01 18:00:00 | 1 | -9.5, 79.6 | 977 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1973-05-01 21:00:00 | 1 | -9.7, 79.3 | 975 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1973-05-02 00:00:00 | 1 | -10.0, 79.0 | 974 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1973-05-02 03:00:00 | 1 | -10.2, 79.0 | 973 hPa | 36 km/h |
| 1973-05-02 06:00:00 | 1 | -10.4, 79.1 | 973 hPa | 36 km/h |
| 1973-05-02 09:00:00 | 1 | -10.6, 79.1 | 973 hPa | 36 km/h |
| 1973-05-02 12:00:00 | 1 | -10.8, 79.1 | 973 hPa | 36 km/h |
| 1973-05-02 15:00:00 | 1 | -11.0, 79.2 | 973 hPa | 36 km/h |
| 1973-05-02 18:00:00 | 1 | -11.2, 79.2 | 973 hPa | 36 km/h |
| 1973-05-02 21:00:00 | 1 | -11.4, 79.3 | 973 hPa | 36 km/h |
| 1973-05-03 00:00:00 | 1 | -11.7, 79.3 | 973 hPa | 36 km/h |
| 1973-05-03 03:00:00 | 1 | -12.4, 79.5 | 973 hPa | 36 km/h |
| 1973-05-03 06:00:00 | 1 | -13.0, 79.6 | 974 hPa | 36 km/h |
| 1973-05-03 09:00:00 | 1 | -13.7, 79.8 | 975 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1973-05-03 12:00:00 | 1 | -14.3, 79.9 | 976 hPa | 33 km/h |
| 1973-05-03 15:00:00 | 1 | -15.0, 80.1 | 978 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1973-05-03 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.6, 80.2 | 979 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1973-05-03 21:00:00 | 1 | -16.3, 80.4 | 980 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1973-05-04 00:00:00 | 1 | -17.0, 80.6 | 981 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1973-05-04 03:00:00 | 1 | -17.8, 80.8 | 982 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1973-05-04 06:00:00 | 1 | -18.5, 81.1 | 983 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1973-05-04 09:00:00 | 1 | -19.3, 81.3 | 984 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1973-05-04 12:00:00 | 1 | -20.0, 81.5 | 986 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1973-05-04 15:00:00 | 1 | -20.8, 81.8 | 987 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-05-04 18:00:00 | 1 | -21.5, 82.0 | 989 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-05-04 21:00:00 | 1 | -22.3, 82.2 | 990 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1973-05-05 00:00:00 | 1 | -23.0, 82.4 | 991 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1973-05-05 03:00:00 | 1 | -23.7, 82.7 | 992 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 1973-05-05 06:00:00 | 1 | -24.4, 83.0 | 993 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 1973-05-05 09:00:00 | 1 | -25.1, 83.4 | 994 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 1973-05-05 12:00:00 | 1 | -25.8, 83.8 | 996 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1973-05-05 15:00:00 | 1 | -26.4, 84.2 | 997 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1973-05-05 18:00:00 | 1 | -27.1, 84.6 | 998 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1973-05-05 21:00:00 | 1 | -27.7, 85.0 | 999 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1973-05-06 00:00:00 | 1 | -28.4, 85.4 | 1000 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1973-05-06 03:00:00 | 1 | -29.6, 87.0 | 1001 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 1973-05-06 06:00:00 | 1 | -30.8, 88.4 | 1001 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1973-05-06 09:00:00 | 1 | -31.4, 90.0 | 1001 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 1973-05-06 12:00:00 | 1 | -32.0, 91.8 | 1001 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 1973-05-06 15:00:00 | 1 | -32.4, 93.6 | 1001 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 1973-05-06 18:00:00 | 1 | -32.7, 95.6 | 1001 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1973-05-06 21:00:00 | 1 | -33.0, 97.9 | 1000 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 1973-05-07 00:00:00 | 1 | -32.3, 100.4 | 1000 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1973-05-07 03:00:00 | 1 | -32.5, 102.5 | 1000 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 1973-05-07 06:00:00 | 1 | -32.7, 104.6 | 996 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-05-07 09:00:00 | 1 | -32.9, 106.7 | 990 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1973-05-07 12:00:00 | 1 | -33.1, 108.8 | 988 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1973-05-07 15:00:00 | 1 | -33.3, 110.8 | 984 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1973-05-07 18:00:00 | 1 | -33.5, 112.8 | 980 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1973-05-07 21:00:00 | 1 | -33.7, 114.8 | 976 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1973-05-08 00:00:00 | 3 | -33.8, 117.4 | 984 hPa | 31 km/h |
| 1973-05-08 03:00:00 | 2 | -34.3, 118.4 | 987 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 1973-05-08 06:00:00 | 4 | -34.7, 119.4 | 987 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-05-08 09:00:00 | 1 | -35.7, 121.0 | 984 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-05-08 12:00:00 | 1 | -37.4, 122.8 | 981 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-05-08 15:00:00 | 1 | -39.8, 124.1 | 978 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-05-08 18:00:00 | 1 | -42.2, 125.5 | 976 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-05-08 21:00:00 | 1 | -44.6, 126.9 | 974 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 1973-05-09 00:00:00 | 1 | -46.9, 128.3 | 972 hPa | 26 km/h |