Iris
2017-18 season · AU201718_24U
History
Tropical Cyclone Iris was a long-lived system that tracked across the Coral Sea during late March and early April 2018. It originated as a tropical low over the eastern Solomon Islands around 20 March, consolidating northwest of Vanuatu on 23 March and beginning to intensify as it moved westward. The Fiji Meteorological Service assigned the name Iris early on 24 March, though the system was not considered to have been at tropical cyclone intensity when it crossed into the Australian region at 160°E.
Over the following days Iris performed a looping track across the eastern Coral Sea, moving southwest then south before turning west-northwest. Even before reaching cyclone strength, strong southeasterly winds generated hazardous surf along the Queensland coast, forcing beach closures from K'gari (Fraser Island) to the Gold Coast across the Easter long weekend. The system was reanalysed as having reached tropical cyclone intensity overnight on 2–3 April, rapidly attaining Category 2 strength, which was confirmed by sustained gales recorded at Flinders Reef over 43 hours. Iris tracked southeast roughly parallel to the Queensland coast, making its closest approach about 210 km northeast of Hamilton Island on 4 April. Hamilton Island experienced gale-force winds with gusts reaching 106 km/h. The Whitsunday Islands more broadly were affected by gale conditions. Iris weakened below cyclone intensity on 5 April, turned northward, and dissipated south of Papua New Guinea on 9 April. The cyclone did not make landfall.
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia
View full track data (69 observations)
| Date/Time (UTC) | Category | Position | Pressure | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-03-23 18:00:00 | 1 | -13.7, 161.5 | 998 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-24 00:00:00 | 1 | -13.9, 160.4 | 998 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-24 06:00:00 | 1 | -14.2, 159.8 | 998 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-24 12:00:00 | 1 | -14.3, 159.6 | 998 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-24 18:00:00 | 1 | -14.4, 159.2 | 998 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-25 00:00:00 | 1 | -14.5, 158.9 | 1000 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-25 06:00:00 | 1 | -14.7, 158.8 | 1000 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-25 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.3, 158.6 | 1002 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-25 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.8, 158.4 | 1002 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-26 00:00:00 | 1 | -16.5, 158.2 | 1002 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-26 06:00:00 | 1 | -17.2, 158.0 | 1000 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-26 12:00:00 | 1 | -17.8, 158.0 | 1001 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-26 18:00:00 | 1 | -18.5, 158.0 | 1000 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-27 00:00:00 | 1 | -19.3, 158.0 | 1002 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-27 06:00:00 | 1 | -20.1, 158.1 | 1000 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-27 12:00:00 | 1 | -20.6, 158.3 | 1002 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-27 18:00:00 | 1 | -21.5, 158.8 | 1002 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-28 00:00:00 | 1 | -22.3, 159.0 | 1002 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-28 06:00:00 | 1 | -22.6, 159.1 | 1000 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-28 12:00:00 | 1 | -22.5, 159.2 | 1000 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-28 18:00:00 | 1 | -22.8, 158.9 | 1000 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-29 00:00:00 | 1 | -22.1, 156.3 | 998 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-29 06:00:00 | 1 | -21.4, 155.3 | 1000 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-29 12:00:00 | 1 | -20.4, 155.2 | 1000 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-29 18:00:00 | 1 | -19.7, 154.9 | 998 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-30 00:00:00 | 1 | -19.2, 154.3 | 998 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-30 06:00:00 | 1 | -18.4, 153.6 | 996 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-30 12:00:00 | 1 | -17.6, 153.0 | 994 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-30 18:00:00 | 1 | -16.9, 151.8 | 993 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-03-31 00:00:00 | 1 | -16.2, 150.9 | 993 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-31 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.5, 150.1 | 993 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-31 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.1, 149.8 | 993 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-03-31 18:00:00 | 1 | -15.0, 149.5 | 993 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-04-01 00:00:00 | 1 | -15.3, 149.4 | 993 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-04-01 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.6, 149.2 | 993 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-04-01 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.9, 149.3 | 992 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-04-01 18:00:00 | 1 | -16.5, 149.3 | 990 hPa | 18 km/h |
| 2018-04-02 00:00:00 | 1 | -16.8, 148.6 | 988 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 2018-04-02 06:00:00 | 1 | -16.8, 148.7 | 986 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 2018-04-02 12:00:00 | 1 | -16.8, 148.8 | 986 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 2018-04-02 18:00:00 | 1 | -17.0, 148.8 | 982 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 2018-04-03 00:00:00 | 1 | -17.1, 149.0 | 982 hPa | 28 km/h |
| 2018-04-03 06:00:00 | 1 | -17.9, 149.5 | 984 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 2018-04-03 12:00:00 | 1 | -18.3, 149.9 | 986 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 2018-04-03 18:00:00 | 1 | -19.0, 150.3 | 987 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 2018-04-04 00:00:00 | 1 | -19.2, 150.5 | 987 hPa | 26 km/h |
| 2018-04-04 06:00:00 | 1 | -19.3, 150.9 | 989 hPa | 23 km/h |
| 2018-04-04 12:00:00 | 1 | -19.5, 151.5 | 990 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 2018-04-04 18:00:00 | 1 | -19.5, 151.6 | 988 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 2018-04-05 00:00:00 | 1 | -19.7, 152.3 | 990 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 2018-04-05 06:00:00 | 1 | -20.1, 152.9 | 991 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 2018-04-05 12:00:00 | 1 | -20.3, 153.2 | 992 hPa | 21 km/h |
| 2018-04-05 18:00:00 | 1 | -19.8, 153.2 | 995 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-04-06 00:00:00 | 1 | -19.5, 153.6 | 998 hPa | 15 km/h |
| 2018-04-06 06:00:00 | 1 | -19.1, 153.7 | 998 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-04-06 12:00:00 | 1 | -18.7, 153.3 | 1000 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-04-06 18:00:00 | 1 | -18.3, 153.2 | 1000 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-04-07 00:00:00 | 1 | -17.7, 153.0 | 1003 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-04-07 06:00:00 | 1 | -17.1, 153.0 | 1002 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-04-07 12:00:00 | 1 | -16.7, 153.3 | 1004 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-04-07 18:00:00 | 1 | -16.4, 153.5 | 1004 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-04-08 00:00:00 | 1 | -16.1, 153.9 | 1006 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-04-08 06:00:00 | 1 | -15.6, 154.3 | 1005 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-04-08 12:00:00 | 1 | -15.0, 154.3 | 1007 hPa | 13 km/h |
| 2018-04-08 18:00:00 | 1 | -14.5, 154.3 | 1007 hPa | 10 km/h |
| 2018-04-09 00:00:00 | 1 | -14.1, 154.3 | 1007 hPa | 10 km/h |
| 2018-04-09 06:00:00 | 1 | -13.6, 154.3 | 1007 hPa | 10 km/h |
| 2018-04-09 12:00:00 | 1 | -13.3, 154.4 | 1007 hPa | 10 km/h |
| 2018-04-09 18:00:00 | 1 | -13.0, 154.6 | 1007 hPa | 10 km/h |