Rusty

History

Severe Tropical Cyclone Rusty developed from an area of low pressure on 22 February 2013, northwest of the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and was formally classified as a tropical cyclone on 23 February. The system was large and slow-moving, which allowed it to draw energy from near-record sea surface temperatures of 31–32°C and intensify more rapidly than typical cyclones of its size. Rusty reached peak intensity on 27 February with ten-minute sustained winds of 165 km/h and a central pressure of 944 hPa, making it a severe tropical cyclone. It made landfall around 0900 UTC that day near Pardoo Station, approximately 110 km east of Port Hedland, with winds of around 130 km/h, before weakening below cyclone strength on 28 February. Its remnants tracked southward over Western Australia and were eventually absorbed into an extratropical system by 5 March.

The storm's slow movement produced prolonged gale-force winds along the Pilbara coast, with Port Hedland recording a record-breaking 39 consecutive hours of sustained gales. Rainfall totalled 374 mm at De Grey Station, contributing to significant flooding, with the De Grey River cresting near its all-time record at 17.23 m. The Port of Port Hedland was closed for 86 hours, disrupting iron ore shipments and prompting BHP, Rio Tinto, and Fortescue to suspend operations. Total economic losses exceeded A$500 million. The name Rusty was subsequently retired and replaced with Riordan in 2016.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia