Rigs Evacuated As 140 - MPH Cyclone Heads For Western Australia

[hatrack]

SYDNEY - Mining and oil companies in far western Australia shut down operations on Monday as a powerful cyclone headed toward the coast, forcing some residents to evacuate homes for storm shelters.

The Bureau of Meteorology said Cyclone Clare, the first of the season along Western Australia's "cyclone alley", recorded winds up to 220 kmh (140 mph) as it approached the sparsely populated stretch of coastline some 1,200 km (750 miles) north of Perth.

The bureau said the cyclone was projected to make landfall north of the coastal town of Karratha, and it warned of a "very dangerous storm tide as the cyclone crosses the coast" later on Monday night.


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"It's difficult at this time to determine just where the storm will hit," said Evans, adding that BHP Billiton also shut down its Griffin offshore oil rig. Woodside said it had shut down operations at its 90,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Cossack Pioneer and its 9,000 bpd Ocean Legendre oil fields, with detachable rigs being moved out of Clare's expected path. Woodside also said it was evacuating non-essential personnel from onshore and offshore facilities before the storm hits but said it expected all other production to continue normally, although ship loadings from Dampier have been suspended since the storm could hit the port town.

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http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/34407/story.htm

[philb]

1. I didn't think they had cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere?

[Dead_Parrot]

2. You get cyclones anywhere...

IIRC, anything from a tornado to hurricane Katrina is technically a cyclone: It's air rotating around an area of low pressure. You're probably thinking of the fact they tend to spin in the other direction in the south, and there is a thing called an anticyclone, which has high pressure.

Then you find out that "anticyclonic rotation" does refer to spinning in the wrong direction, and give up. :)

[philb]

3. I was aware of spin, but also thought they historically don't have many

[Dead_Parrot]

4. Ahh, with you.

I think it's down to the combination of currents and ocean depth - most of the south is cold deep ocean - but hopefully someone who knows what they're talking about can help... :)

[phantom power]

5. This season's forecast is...

6 "severe cyclones" and 10 tropical storms. Both of these are very close to the 30 year averages.

http://forecast.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/shadow/forecasts.html