ZELIA

History

Tropical Cyclone Zelia was a late-season system that formed and lived out its tropical phase entirely over open water, never threatening the Australian mainland.

Zelia developed from a low embedded in the monsoon trough over the central Coral Sea, and was named by the Bureau of Meteorology's Brisbane Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre on 25 March 1998. Conditions were favourable, with warm sea surface temperatures allowing the low to organise quickly, and it consolidated into a Category 1 tropical cyclone the same day.

From genesis, Zelia tracked steadily east-southeastwards, remaining well offshore from the Queensland coast for its entire time in the Australian area of responsibility. Continued intensification saw it reach Category 2 on the Australian scale by 27 March, which represented its peak strength. At that point the estimated minimum central pressure was around 980 hPa, with maximum 10-minute sustained winds near 100 km/h (about 55 knots) and gusts to roughly 140 km/h.

Holding its east-southeasterly course, Zelia crossed the 160°E meridian on 28 March and passed out of the Australian region into the South Pacific basin. As the system pushed towards higher latitudes it encountered increasing vertical wind shear and cooler waters, and it progressively lost its tropical characteristics. Zelia completed extratropical transition and deepened into a vigorous extratropical depression that swept over New Zealand's North Island late on 30–31 March before dissipating on 1 April.

Because it made no landfall and stayed clear of the coast, Zelia caused no wind damage, no structural losses and no casualties in Australia. Its extratropical remnants were more consequential further east, delivering squally gale-force winds, rough seas and widespread heavy rain to Norfolk Island and northern New Zealand, where localised flooding and minor power disruptions were reported.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia