Blake

History

Tropical Cyclone Blake developed on 4 January 2020 from a tropical low designated 02U, which formed within a monsoon trough approximately 750 kilometres north-northwest of Broome, Western Australia. It was the first named tropical cyclone of the 2019–20 Australian region season, which had an unusually late start. Blake was classified as a Category 1 system on the Australian tropical cyclone scale, reaching 10-minute sustained winds of 75 km/h shortly after being named.

The cyclone made its first landfall on the Dampier Peninsula, around 85 kilometres north of Broome, before re-emerging over the Indian Ocean and tracking southwest along the coast. After briefly reorganising over water, Blake made a second and final landfall just west of Wallal Downs cattle station on Eighty Mile Beach at approximately 17:00 UTC on 7 January, again at minimal Category 1 intensity. The system weakened to a tropical low within an hour of crossing the coast and subsequently dissipated. Blake's impacts were limited, consistent with its brief existence and weak intensity. Its significance lay primarily in marking the belated beginning of a below-average cyclone season for the Australian region, which ultimately recorded eight tropical cyclones in total during 2019–20.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia