What is a cyclone?
Cyclones are massive revolving storms caused by winds blowing around a central area of low atmospheric pressure. Australia's cyclones are known as tropical storms, whose winds blow in a clockwise circle.
What happened?
The events of Christmas eve to Christmas day in 1974 were not what the residents of Darwin in Northern Territory, Australia were expecting. It started off as a light storm a few days earlier...
Before the events of Cyclone Tracy, ABC radio famously reported that it posed
no threat to Australia’s mainland on December 22. Just days after, one hundred and ninety-five millimetres of rain fell in less than nine hours. Cyclone Tracy began as a tropical storm out in the Arafura Sea, north of Darwin. It then intensified and developed into a category 4 cyclone, changing paths and heading straight for Darwin. The cyclone passed directly over Darwin airport at midnight, and had winds between 217 kilometres per hour and was about 96 kilometres wide. In 1974, Darwin was a very small, rustic town and was not built to withstand cyclones even though it is in the cyclone belt.
no threat to Australia’s mainland on December 22. Just days after, one hundred and ninety-five millimetres of rain fell in less than nine hours. Cyclone Tracy began as a tropical storm out in the Arafura Sea, north of Darwin. It then intensified and developed into a category 4 cyclone, changing paths and heading straight for Darwin. The cyclone passed directly over Darwin airport at midnight, and had winds between 217 kilometres per hour and was about 96 kilometres wide. In 1974, Darwin was a very small, rustic town and was not built to withstand cyclones even though it is in the cyclone belt.
Cyclone Tracy occurred as a Natural part of the weather patterns. Areas such as the Equator and the Tropical regions where Darwin is situated, it is prone to cyclones. Low pressure systems coming down from the equator and high land temperatures- combined with cooler water temperatures caused the cyclone.