ETHEL

History

Tropical Cyclone Ethel developed from a tropical low that formed within the monsoon trough over the northern Gulf of Carpentaria on 7 March 1996. Drifting south-eastward across the warm, shallow waters of the Gulf, the low became progressively better organised and was upgraded to a Category 1 tropical cyclone by the Brisbane Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre on 8 March, when it received the name Ethel.

The system remained a relatively modest cyclone throughout its life. At its strongest it carried maximum 10-minute mean winds of around 85 km/h (45 knots) with gusts near 110 km/h, and an estimated minimum central pressure of about 988 hPa — a Category 1 system on the Australian scale — reached over the eastern Gulf shortly before it reached the coast.

Tracking east-south-eastward, Ethel crossed the western shore of Cape York Peninsula near Weipa on 9 March. Friction over land quickly stripped the system of its organisation and it weakened to a tropical low as it traversed the peninsula, emerging into the Coral Sea near Cooktown on 10 March. Upper-level westerly shear prevented redevelopment offshore, and the low went on to recross Cape York Peninsula before finally moving inland along the southern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory, with the remnant circulation persisting until about 13 March.

Direct wind impacts were limited. Weipa and other remote western Cape York communities experienced gale-force gusts, squalls and heavy monsoonal rain, producing minor tree damage and localised flooding of coastal creeks and roads. As the remnant low tracked offshore, rough seas and squally showers affected the Far North Queensland coast between Cooktown and Cairns, but no significant structural damage occurred there. The system's most costly legacy came from the prolonged rainfall it delivered, with the resulting severe flooding accounting for damage estimated at around A$75 million (about US$57 million). No deaths were attributed to the cyclone.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia