User:LightandDark2000/Cyclone Katrina–Victor–Cindy

Severe Tropical Cyclone Katrina–Victor–Cindy was a long-lived and erratic tropical cyclone, which moved around Australia during parts of January and February 1998. The storm is also the longest-lived tropical cyclone on record, if the period of time it spent as a remnant low, prior to the system's regeneration, is taken into account. The storm is the sixth-longest-lived tropical cyclone recorded globally, in terms of tropical duration. The initial system developed on 2 January and meandered within the Coral Sea between the Queensland coast and Vanuatu for the next three weeks. After its decay the remnants of Katrina moved westward over Cape York Peninsula, past the Northern Territory and into the Indian Ocean where it developed into tropical cyclone Victor during February. Victor was then renamed Cindy by the Mauritius Meteorological Service, as it moved into the South-West Indian Ocean basin.

Meteorological history
On 30 December 1997, an area of low pressure formed just off the east coast of Cape York Peninsula, in Queensland, Australia. During the next two days, the low pressure area gradually moved eastward, before organizing into a tropical low two days later. On 1 January 1998, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's Brisbane tropical cyclone warning center started to monitor a tropical low, that had developed within the monsoon trough about 630 km to the east-northeast of Cairns in Queensland, Australia. Over the next two days, the system performed a loop around the Coral Sea and gradually developed further, before it was named Katrina by TCWC Brisbane on 3 January, after it had become a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale. The JTWC subsequently initiated advisories on the system, and then designated the system as Tropical Cyclone 12P, as it started to move towards the north-northeast, due to the monsoon westerlies located to the north of the system. During that day, the tropical cyclone intensified slightly further; before any of the intensification, the low level inflow was being dominated by Severe Tropical Cyclone Susan as it rapidly intensified.

On 7 January, Susan moved further south, allowing Katrina to intensify as it neared the Solomon Islands; this proved to be the northernmost point of Katrina's track, as the storm turned east-southeastward and then southeastward, fluctuating in hurricane-level strength. On 9 January, Cyclone Katrina threatened Vanuatu, when it stalled about 200 nmi west-northwest of Port Vila, and reversed direction and moved west, due to a high pressure system. On 11 January, Katrina moved south of Rennell Island and then crossed back into the Brisbane area, six hours later, where it crossed the 160E on its eastward journey. Then, the storm turned westward, maintaining that course until 15 January. On15 January, the storm moved south-southwestward, where it reached an intensity equivalent to that of a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale, with a barometric pressure of 940 mbar. Katrina weakened rapidly and slowed, before making a tight loop on 17 and 18 January. After completing the loop, Cyclone Katrina moved east for 12 hours before moving east-southeast for three days. During that time, Katrina briefly reached Category 1 strength once more, before slowing down and being affected by wind shear. By 24 January, Katrina had weakened to a tropical depression and on 25 January, Katrina weakened into a remnant low 250 nmi east of Townsville.

Cyclone Victor formed from a tropical low consisting of the remnant of Cyclone Katrina, which passed across the northern Cape York Peninsula. The low was weak and poorly structured, as it moved to the north of Kimberley on 8 February; however, its organization improved significantly on 9 February, as it moved west-southwestward, away from the north Kimberley coast. An LNG tanker reported 40-knot winds near the center of the storm, during the late afternoon of 10 February, which was named Victor that night. It continued to move westward and remained weak on 11 February, but intensified on 12 February. An eye became visible during the morning of 13 February, as Victor reached peak intensity. Victor continued moving toward the west-southwest, but then progressively weakened. By the morning of 15 February, it was sheared with a fully exposed low-level center, apparent on satellite imagery. Victor was a small cyclone for its whole lifetime, and was surrounded by very high environmental pressures.

As Victor accelerated towards a west-southwesterly direction on the edge of a subtropical high, it crossed the 90th meridian east early on 16 February, being briefly renamed by Mauritius as Tropical Cyclone Cindy. Later that day, the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre in Réunion (RSMC La Reunion) downgraded Cindy to tropical disturbance intensity. Cindy continued to lose its clouds and its spiral structure until 19 February, when RSMC La Reunion reported that the tropical cyclone dissipated, after having re-curved to the south towards a polar trough.

The lifespan of Tropical Cyclone Katrina–Victor–Cindy, from the initial formation of the low in the Coral Sea, until it could no longer be identified as a low in the central Indian Ocean, was 51 days. The storm spent a total of 23 days as a tropical cyclone.

Impact
Already suffering from the effects of Cyclones Ron and Susan, the South Pacific nations of Vanuatu and Fiji feared additional damage from Katrina as it tracked toward the region.

Australia
After battering some of these islands, the erratically tracking storm reversed direction and threatened another disaster-struck region, Queensland, Australia. By 16 January, officials warned that further rains from the storm could renew floods to regions still recovering from destructive ones earlier in the month. Residents were advised to trim branches off trees, secure outdoor objects, clean their gutters and stock up on emergency supplies. According to press reports, the threat of a landfalling cyclone was, "the worst news for Townsville." Cyclone watches were declared for parts of the Queensland coastline between Cape Melville and Bowen. Cleanup efforts were rushed as debris had to be cleared from flood-stricken areas before the storm struck. On 18 January, the 1,000 relief workers brought into the region after the floods were placed on standby to protect their well-being as the storm moved through. After Katrina stalled and turned away from Queensland on 19 January, the cyclone watch area was revised to encompass areas between Cardwell and Mackay. A strong wind warning was also put in effect from Cairns to Bowen. The following day, these advisories were discontinued as the storm no longer posed a threat to land.

Off the coast of Queensland, Willis Island was impacted by Katrina twice: once on 3 January and again between 16 and 18 January. Both instances brought heavy rains, amounting to storm total of 443.2 mm, more than twice the monthly average. While crossing the Cape York Peninsula, the remnants of Katrina brought moderate rains to the region, exceeding 60 mm in some areas.

Solomon Islands
Within the Solomon Islands, 450 homes were destroyed on the islands of Rennell and Bellona, while on southern Guadalcanal 200 homes were destroyed as the system brushed the islands. On 15 January, the Solomon Islands home affairs minister declared disaster areas on the islands of Rennell and Bellona and Guadalcanal. The Red Cross and other non-government organizations provided Aid within the islands. The Solomon Islands National Disaster Council subsequently appealed, for further public help and donations to help provide emergency shelter and supplies.

Vanuatu
During 8–9 January, while the system was located within the South Pacific basin, Katrina posed a threat to Vanuatu which had just been affected by Cyclone Susan a couple of days earlier. After Susan had moved away, most shops and government buildings on the island of Efate, had kept their shutters up in preparation for the system affecting the archipelago. In Vanuatu, a man drowned after being swept away by large swells and rough seas while fishing.