Category 5 cyclone Ita bearing down on North Queensland
Posted Apr 10, 2014, 7:21 AM UTC
5842
Wow, thanks for the gilding, my first ever.
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169 views so far ar 6.40. When is Ita arriving?
1
In 8 to 12 hours roughly, though the winds will steadily grow in strength over that time.
1
awesome thanks mate
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Winifred was the most intense i can remember. Was working outside during Justin and Rona, not much damage but the fruit had to be picked because it's worth $$$$$$ after a blow. Lost 3 sides of my roof and had no power for 3 months after Larry. Yasi only gave me a bit of water damage. Living in Cairns now, lets see how this one pans out.
11
Stay safe mate, we're in Kuranda so we'll be in for a treat.
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Ive been here all my life (Cairns).. and yup Winifred was a nasty one ! I was 5 and remember it so clearly ! That was the cyclone they 'lost' from memory .. didn't know where she was at one point
We've secured what we can.. now its wait and see what Ita throws this way. Hope those in Cooktown area are all bunkered down and safe !
1
Does this mean banana prices are gonna go up again? Coz last time the prices were tragic.
7
It's possible. Some models have the cyclone tracking a fair way down the coast, and it doesn't take much to knock over a banana.
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Depends on how strong the cyclone is when it comes down Cairns way. Most of the far north banana plantations exist between Cairns and Townsville, with the greatest concentration around Innisfail.
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[deleted]
5
Look out for an update from them within an hour of my comment! Unfortunately the JTWC only updates at 7am and 7pm EST. Also, BoM tracks are now updating hourly. BoM looks, at this stage, to have things a bit off given Ita's current S-SW track.
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The 11/06Z forecast, just before it crosses the coast, has gusts to 165 knots. 305km/h.
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I am meant to be flying to Cairns on Saturday. Might take a few books to the airport.... take care up there peeps.
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take a laptop and go power point hunting ;)
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Bring a boat if you can.
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Good luck to our friends in far north Queensland.
You sure are tougher than us southern Queenslanders, as evidenced by the shit-storm left in Brisbane after ex-tropical cyclone Oswald.
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I remember watching the observations coming in from Willis Island when Yasi was approaching. Eventually it just stopped transmitting.
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ60801/IDQ60801.94188.shtml
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My local station got wrecked by Larry, last recorded wind was 290
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I am flying back to Cairns today to assist my mother who lives by herself. Wish everyone the best of luck. Stay safe, don't do anything stupid and remember your neighbours. Hopefully everything will turn out alright.
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Unless it starts tracking south once it hits the coast this isn't going to be that big a deal for Cairns, just a lot of wind and rain. Now the Cooktown area is in for a battering, best of luck to them.
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http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ65002.shtml
This means wind gusts over 280km/h. 300-400mm of rain is also expected to fall in the Cooktown to Cardwell area in the next few days, so flooding is likely even if you're south of the damaging winds.
Any readers living north of Port Douglas here? Good luck to you.
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Kind of late for a cyclone or does this normally happen up north?
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The season goes until the end of April. Cyclones are not uncommon about now, but a lot of cyclones you get are cat 1-3, and many don't cross the coast. I don't know if it is especially rare for a big one to cross the coast this late. Larry was at the end of May, I think.
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What surprised me was the news said Cook Town hasn't had a cyclone since the 1940s - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooktown,_Queensland#Since_World_War_II
I was suprised they haven't had more based on their location.
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Righto, one more reason I will never live in FNQ lol. Good luck to those up there though, hopefully it dissipates.
-4
or just build a house that can withstand it. Something a lot of people just dont get it seems. lol.
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hard to know what can withstand a Severe TC like Ita though.. hasn't happened here before ! Apparently anything post 1982 is built to cyclone standard.. but not sure on strength though.. cat 5.. well it'll break stuff
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Looks like Scrooge Mcduck.
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The arguments of a hurricane skeptic just before Ita hits.
"Stormy weather like this happens all the time - its just part of the natural cycle"
"Wind recording devices can be inaccurate"
"Meteorologists are divided about the severity, and indeed, whether this hurricane will even occur"
"Meteorology models are unreliable"
"Ceasing Agricultural and Industrial activity because of alarmism about the hurricane is economic sabotage"
"The category 5 rating is a complete exaggeration being pushed by left-wing alarmists"
"This Hurricane has nothing to do with human activity - and besides, China's not doing anything about it"
Just wanted to illustrate the redundancy of the Climate debate. Queenslanders aren't sitting about listening to two sides of the story. They're boarding up their fucking windows.
1†
Climate scientists always said global warming would lead to less hurricans and tornado's. Global warming is here, but nobody really knows what the results are going to be.
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Climate scientists always said global warming would lead to less hurricans and tornado's.
No they haven't. They have argued that warming ocean temperatures have lead to more intense hurricanes.
Also, I was using the impending hurricane as an analogy for climate change and the debate surrounding it, not drawing connections between them.
Just like you prepare for disaster when meteorlogists tell you a hurricane is coming, we should be preparing for disaster when climate scientists tell us climate disaster is coming, especially when on of the primary causes of that coming climate disaster is us.
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I've been lead to believe that climate change will lead to a hotter, wetter planet which leads to more storms but I could been easily wrong.
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Serious question from a backpacker in cairns: I have a scuba diving trip set to start on Monday for three days. The cyclone should be through by then, but will the visibility be shot? Would it even be worth doing for how much those trips cost or would I be better off canceling and doing the same thing in Thailand in two months? I'm clearly a rookie.
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Monday will still be shit but Thailand has terrible reefs. What boat are you going on.
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It's one of those 5-day PADI course and dives through Pro Dive. I was considering maybe canceling, doing the cert in Thailand, and maybe doing a day trip on the reef here next week instead. You think that would be a fair trade off?
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Way better option
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Done and done. Thank you, anonymous Queenslander friend.
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I'm from Melbourne, going to Stradbroke Island this coming Thursday. Is this motherfucker going to ruin my holiday?
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Not if you surf it wont : )
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Queensland's decision to allow dredging on the great barrier reef has angered Poseidon lord of the sea, now they must suffer.
It's funny how god fearing people always blame nature when something like this happens. I mean it's not like there's a book all about how these sorts of things are god telling you you're fucking things up and need to sort out your shit now.