Darwin is a city in the north of Australia. Its geography gives it some extreme weather. It experiences an incredibly dry season, with virtually no precipitation for over four months. In 2012 Darwin was without rain for 147 consecutive days. The monsoon season is from October to April, and brings spectacular storms and lightning shows; Darwin is one of the most lightning-prone areas in the country. The wet season also brings something else: cyclones. In fact, Darwin has been rebuilt three times from cyclones - most recently after the devastating Cyclone Tracy in 1974. Tracy occurred on Christmas Eve, catching residents in a festive and carefree mood. Cyclone warnings, being common in the city, were largely ignored, and Tracy's direct hit caught residents unprepared. As a result, 71 people died and 80 percent of homes were demolished. Though ferocious, Tracy was curiously small, with a radius of only 48 km. This held the record for smallest tropical storm until 2008, when Hurricane Marco broke it at 19 km. The biggest? That was the absolutely gargantuan Typhoon Tip in 1979. At peak intensity Tip had a radius of 1,100 km and windspeeds up to 350 km/h. Thankfully it peaked out at sea, though it still killed 99 people.
Bonus:
Ever wondered the difference between a cyclone, hurricane, and typhoon? Nothing at all in fact. The names are just conventions used to differentiate where the phenomenon occurs. Cyclones designate tropical storms that form in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, hurricanes are those of the Northeast Pacific and Atlantic, and typhoons are those of the Northwest Pacific.
-E
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