Tropical cyclone Fina on torrential path to hit northern Australian coast this week | Australia weather

If tropical cyclone Fina passes the Northern Territory coast on Friday, it could be the earliest cyclone to reach Australia.

Category one hurricane Fina, about 370km northeast of Darwin, was moving eastward and was expected to intensify to a category two hurricane before turning south on Thursday.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s latest update (published at 10.30am local time on Wednesday) predicted the cyclone would reach the NT coast on Friday or Saturday for “potential impact”.

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Senior meteorologist Jonathan How said it was the earliest cyclone to reach Australia. InesIt crossed the Kimberley on 21 November 1973. Earliest person to cross the NT coast alessia On November 27, 2013.

“According to Fina’s track map, it may cross the coast on November 21, 22, which may be the record for the earliest landfall,” he said, and this will be the earliest date for NT.

Although Australia’s official cyclone season begins on November 1, the first time landfall is usually mid- or late-December on average, he said.

Latest status of the office track map He stated that Darwin might be impressed.

Latest significant hurricane to impact Darwin Marcus in 2018With winds blowing at 130 km per hour, the landfall became a category two system, causing trees to fall and power outages.

Prof Steve Turton, assistant professor at Central Queensland University, said climate change was intensifying tropical cyclones around the world.

With a warming climate, fewer tropical cyclones were expected, but they would be more intense, with a higher proportion of category four and five hurricanes. national climate risk assessment.

“We know that with climate change we expect these storms to increase in intensity. We expect them to intensify faster. We’re already seeing these patterns,” Turton said.

He said sea surface temperatures in the Timor Sea were above average for this time of year and well above expected. 26.5C threshold It is necessary for the formation of cyclones.

He said Fina’s size is small. “Because it’s smaller, it’s likely to spin faster. But it can also weaken faster due to inertia. So these small tornadoes can sometimes catch you unawares and suddenly intensify very quickly.”