BARRY

History

Tropical Cyclone Barry developed in the Gulf of Carpentaria on 4 January 1996, within the area of responsibility of the Brisbane Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre. The system intensified over the warm, shallow waters of the Gulf as it tracked towards the eastern shoreline, reaching a peak intensity of Category 3 on the Australian scale — placing it in the severe tropical cyclone bracket.

Barry made landfall on the Queensland coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria roughly two days after formation, crossing between the fishing port of Karumba and the Aboriginal community of Kowanyama on 6 January. This stretch of the western Cape York Peninsula is sparsely settled, which limited structural damage from the cyclone's winds.

The most significant consequence of Barry was rainfall. Torrential falls associated with the system, and with the decaying low as it moved inland, produced severe flooding across the southern Cape York Peninsula. Despite the extent of the flooding, no deaths were attributed to the cyclone.

Barry was one of several tropical cyclones to affect the Australian region during an active 1995–96 season, though the majority of that season's damaging systems struck the Western Australian coast rather than Queensland.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia