The 2001–02 Australian region cyclone season was a slightly below average tropical cyclone season. It officially started on 1 November 2001, and ended on 30 April 2002. However, the formation of Tropical Cyclone Alex on 26 October 2001 marked an earlier beginning to the season, and the season extended past the official end of the season when Tropical Cyclone Upia formed on 25 May 2002. The regional tropical cyclone operational plan also defines a "tropical cyclone year" separately from a "tropical cyclone season"; the "tropical cyclone year" began on 1 July 2001 and ended on 30 June 2002. The scope of the Australian region is limited to all areas south of the equator, east of 90°E and west of 160°E. This area includes Australia, Papua New Guinea, western parts of the Solomon Islands, East Timor and southern parts of Indonesia.
Tropical cyclones in this area are monitored by five Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs): the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in Perth, Darwin, and Brisbane; TCWC Jakarta in Indonesia; and TCWC Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center issues unofficial warnings for the region, designating tropical depressions with the "S" suffix when they form west of 135°E, and the "P" suffix when they form east of 135°E.
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Systems
Tropical Cyclone Alex–Andre
Tropical Cyclone Alex began on 24 October 2001 when the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) noted an area of convection developing southwest of Sumatra and north of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. On 25 October, the JTWC relocated the disturbance further west as it became better organised. The JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert on the tropical low later that day. On 26 October, the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre in Perth issued a gale warning on the system, forecasting further development. Three hours later, TCWC Perth upgraded the low to Tropical Cyclone Alex northwest of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The JTWC followed suit, upgrading the low to tropical cyclone status in its first advisory. It moved slowly westward while upper-level wind shear prevented the storm from intensifying. However, late on 27 October, the storm's deep convection had become better organised and Perth raised Alex's peak winds to . Alex continued to move to the west-southwest, steered by a mid-level ridge to the southeast. Alex moved west of 90°E into La Réunion's area of responsibility early on 28 October and was renamed Severe Tropical Storm Andre by Mauritius. Alex-Andre at this time reached its peak intensity, with Météo-France estimating 10-min sustained winds to be 55 kn, while the JTWC estimated 1-min sustained winds to be 55 kn as well; see 2001–02 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season.
Tropical Low 03S
A monsoon trough present near the equator spawned a low near eastern New Guinea. The system tracked westward at a very low latitude. Convection rapidly built around the system because of its position near the axis of the ridge and the low vertical wind shear in the environment. The storm was mentioned by TCWC Darwin in the daily Tropical Weather Outlook on 15 November and given a low to moderate chance of developing into a tropical cyclone within 72 hours. On 17 November, tropical depression formed near southern Papua New Guinea.
By the 19th conditions were less favourable, and the JTWC indicated that convection was sheared to the west of the well-defined, yet weak, circulation centre. Up to this point, Darwin and JTWC were in agreement regarding the system's strength and its potential for development. However, JTWC issued their first Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert on 21 November, placing the system's center about 200 nm east-northeast of Timor. At 0600 UTC they upgraded the low to a weak tropical cyclone and issued their first warning. JTWC forecast slight strengthening which did not materialise. They issued their second and final warning at 1800 UTC. In their final best track, JTWC held the estimated tropical cyclone-strength intensity through the next day. Though the system was overland for some time, the damage it caused is unknown.
Tropical Cyclone Bessi–Bako
An area of convection developed on 25 November 2001 southwest of Sumatra. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) on 26 November when the low continued to become better organised. At the same time, the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre in Perth began releasing gale warnings for the storm, anticipating further development. Moderate wind shear prevented the low from intensifying, which made it necessary for the JTWC to issue another TCFA on 27 November. Shortly after, the JTWC issued their first warning on the storm, designating it 05S, while Perth upgraded the cyclone to Tropical Cyclone Bessi. At this time, the cyclone was located about northwest of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Bessi was initially moving westwards, but turned to the south as a mid-level trough weakened the subtropical ridge which was steering the cyclone westwards. Bessi reached its first peak intensity of on 28 November while located west-northwest of Cocos Islands. It weakened thereafter as it moved into an area of high vertical wind shear. Bessi moved to the south-southeast on 29 November, then curved to the west on 30 November while weakening to . It moved west of 90°E, entering La Réunion's area of responsibility, and was renamed Tropical Storm Bako. Cyclone Bessi-Bako later reached its peak intensity of 65 knots as estimated by Météo-France; see 2001–02 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season.
Tropical Cyclone Bernie
A weak tropical low developed in the Gulf of Carpentaria northeast of Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory on 30 December. It moved slowly to the south and intensified to Tropical Cyclone Bernie on 3 January. It peaked in intensity early the next day as a Category 2 cyclone, with wind gusts reaching . Bernie was moving to the southwest and started to weaken, before crossing the coast near the borderline between Queensland and Northern Territory early on 5 January as a Category 1 cyclone. It weakened to a rain depression shortly after and continued to move southwards into the Barkly district on 6 January.
Early on 4 January, Bernie was close to making landfall over Mornington Island, and cyclone warnings were declared between the Northern Territory border and Kowanyama in Queensland. However, the cyclone warnings were shifted to the west later in the day for areas between Port McArthur in the Northern Territory and the Gilbert-Einasleigh River mouth in Queensland. As the cyclone neared the island, many residents in Mornington Island were moved to a more secure shelter. A few hours later, residents between Port McArthur and Karumba, Queensland were warned of a dangerous storm surge associated with Bernie.
Mornington Island recorded more than of precipitation in a 24‑hour period and experienced gusts of . A few houses in the island lost power. However, only light damages occurred, and there were no casualties on the island. The town of Karumba also experienced heavy damage, with the storm surge damaging the beach. The towns Burketown and Doomadgee in Queensland were isolated for two weeks due to flooded roads.
Pastoralists in the Gulf country were anticipating high rainfall from Bernie, but only received low rainfall. Further south in Roma, Queensland, the rains helped lift up the prices in the cattle market. People in inland areas of the Gulf country were hit by bushfires in November and December 2001 and were anticipating the arrival of Bernie, hoping that it will bring rain to extinguish the fires. However, Bernie delivered very little rain to the area.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Chris
Severe Tropical Cyclone Chris developed on 2 February off the north Western Australia coast. The storm peaked with winds before making landfall to the east of Port Hedland, Western Australia and dissipated overland on 6 February. Chris was responsible for some inland flooding.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Claudia
The origins of Claudia came from an area of convection which formed east-southeast of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on 9 February 2002. The system did not develop further until on 11 February where it began to develop rapidly. The Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre (TCWC) in Brisbane identified the storm as a tropical low east of Townsville, Queensland, while the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert for the system. A couple hours later, the low was upgraded to Tropical Cyclone Claudia by TCWC Brisbane, while the JTWC also upgraded the storm to tropical cyclone status, designating it as Tropical Cyclone 14P. Later that day, the JTWC upped Claudia's peak winds to , after a well-defined eye was spotted in infrared imagery. The very small cyclone was moving southeastwards and continued to rapidly intensify due to good outflow. Early on 12 February, TCWC Brisbane upgraded Claudia to a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone, with estimated peak winds of , while the JTWC estimated peak winds of . Claudia was moving quickly to the southeast towards Fiji's area of responsibility and TCWC Brisbane its last warning for Claudia later that day when it moved east of 160°E out of TCWC Brisbane's area of responsibility; see 2001–02 South Pacific cyclone season.
Tropical Cyclone Des
Tropical Cyclone Des originated from an area of convection which formed on 3 March east-southeast of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Late on 4 March, the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre (TCWC) in Brisbane initiated warnings for the tropical low as the system's convection deepened. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert for the storm, and later upgraded it to Tropical Cyclone 17P at 0600 UTC on 5 March. The cyclone was moving to the east-southeast, steered by a low to mid-level ridge east of the storm. Favourable conditions and good outflow enabled the cyclone to strengthen, and TCWC Brisbane upgraded it to Tropical Cyclone Des at 0900 UTC on the same day with peak winds of . At the time of upgrade, Des was located only west of 160°E, near the border between Brisbane's and Nadi's respective areas of responsibility. Warnings were issued by RSMC Nadi thereafter as the cyclone continued to move to the southeast; see 2001–02 South Pacific cyclone season.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Dianne–Jery