STEVE

History

Tropical Cyclone Steve began as a tropical low in the Coral Sea east of Willis Island on 25 February 2000. It intensified quickly and was named Steve early on 27 February, becoming remarkable for both its longevity and its extraordinary journey right across the top of the continent.

Steve made its first landfall that same evening, crossing the Queensland coast just north of Cairns as a Category 2 system around 7 pm AEST on 27 February. It weakened over land to a tropical low on 28 February, but tracked west and regained cyclone strength over the Gulf of Carpentaria late that night. After passing over Mornington Island, Steve made a second landfall north of Port McArthur in the Northern Territory on 1 March as a Category 1. It again weakened to a low while retaining a strong circulation as it traversed the base of the Top End, skirted the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and crossed the Kimberley, before redeveloping into a cyclone just west of Broome on 5 March. Moving west-southwest parallel to the Pilbara coast, Steve reached its peak intensity as a Category 2 system with a central pressure of 975 hPa on 6 March, passing north of Port Hedland and Karratha before its third landfall near Mardie around midnight. It emerged offshore north of Carnarvon, tracked south along the coast and made a fourth and final landfall east of Denham around midnight on 9 March — the first Australian cyclone known to have crossed the coast four separate times. Steve became extratropical while accelerating across southern Western Australia and passed out to sea east of Esperance late on 11 March.

The system's rainfall caused far more damage than its winds. Major flooding struck between Cairns and Mareeba, where a record 12.4 m flood level was recorded; gusts to 140 km/h stripped roofs, and more than 40,000 residents lost power. North Queensland damage was estimated to exceed A$100 million. Flooding also affected the Katherine, Daly and Victoria River districts, isolated Kimberley communities for over a fortnight, and pushed the Gascoyne River at Carnarvon to its highest level since 1960. The name Steve was subsequently retired.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia