Sandra gets nastier as she heads south

Cyclone Sandra is expected to intensify into a Category 3 storm over the weekend. Source: The Courier-Mail

DESPITE increasing intensity, Queenslanders shouldn't expect a visit from Tropical Cyclone Sandra.

Cyclone Sandra was tracking 1250 kilometres east north east of Townsville at 4am and was moving further away from the coast in an east to south east direction.

Sandra was upgraded from a Category 1 to Category 2 tropical cyclone overnight with the possibility of an upgrade to Category 3 tomorrow and Category 4 on Monday.

Despite her growing intensity, Cyclone Sandra is expected to continue to move southeast, sparing Queensland's coastline.

Senior Bureau of Metereology forecaster Pradeep Singh said Sandra's path wasn't certain but it was unlikely that we will feel Sandra's fury along the Australian coast.

"We'll see some swells in our coastal waters towards the end of next week," he said.

"Other than that, we shouldn't see much trouble at all."

7.30am: Ten new category-five cyclone shelters are ready for use if Queensland's second cyclone of the season crosses the coast, the state government says.

Cyclone Sandra has developed to a category two cyclone and is expected to intensify as it moves east over the next 24 hours, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

It's currently 1300km northeast of Townsville.

Housing and Public Works Minister Tim Mander said the keys to cyclone shelters in Townsville, Ingham, Proserpine and Bowen have been given to local disaster management groups.

"We've already had more than enough wild weather this year, but if Sandra does cross the coast we will be ready for it," Mr Mander said.

Each shelter provides secure accommodation for up to 800 people, with priority given to residents at direct risk from a cyclone who do not have access to alternative emergency accommodation.

Other shelters ready for use are located in Mackay, Cairns, Innisfail, Cooktown, Port Douglas, Tully, Weipa and Yeppoon.

Earlier, The Courier-Mail reported the big storm with winds to 110km/h is affecting an area about 1000km in diameter and is about 1100km northeast of Mackay.

The Weather Bureau has warned shipping that seas at its centre are 12m to 14m.

Weather Bureau forecaster Geoff Doueall said seas were of such a size that on the old Beaufort Scale they were rated as phenomenal, a description that referred to hurricane-force conditions.

"But there will be nothing like that further away from the eye and conditions along the coast have actually eased," he said.

Fisheries Queensland shark control program manager Jeff Krause said shark nets and drum lines would be removed from 20 beaches due to the rough conditions.

The good news is that the further south the cyclone goes, the more chance it has of running out of steam as it moves over cooler waters.

Anywhere north of Mackay is generally warm enough for cyclones to form and conditions south of about Bundaberg start to weaken them.

The Hawaii-based Joint Typhoon Warning Centre believes Sandra will assume a more southerly trajectory with winds to increase to 175km/h although one model has the storm crossing the coast between Mackay and Rockhampton and a second at the Sunshine Coast.

Moving at 10km/h, it is expected to remain well out to sea at least until next week.

Weatherzone forecaster Ben Domensino said the storm had only a slim chance of turning towards Queensland.

There was also a low risk that a second low would form next week along the monsoon trough about Cape York.

The monsoon could bring heavy falls across Cape York and the Gulf of Carpentaria but Cyclone Sandra was drawing much of the moisture off the east coast.

Cyclone Sandra is about 660km from Willis Island, one of the bureau's most remote weather stations.

The island is 450km northeast of Cairns and has a crew of four that serve for six months at a time.

Willis Island meteorologist Zachary Hussain said rough conditions hit the island on Thursday but eased yesterday.

"We've been busy with cyclone preparations and launching additional weather balloons," he said.

"It's not too bad."

Cyclone Yasi tore into the island in 2011, hitting it so hard it reshaped the tiny 400m by 200m land mass.

- reporting by Brian Williams, Felicity Sheppard and AAP

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Sandra gets nastier as she heads south

Dengan url

http://duniasikasik.blogspot.com/2013/03/sandra-gets-nastier-as-she-heads-south.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Sandra gets nastier as she heads south

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Sandra gets nastier as she heads south

sebagai sumbernya