Australia's Cyclone Debbie upgraded

[senorpepr]

Tropical Cyclone Debbie, off Australia's northern Arnhem Land, has been upgraded to a category two system.

The cyclone strengthened from a tropical low in the early hours of Friday morning.

It is currently 230 kilometers north-west of Elcho Island and is slowly moving west, with winds of more than 120 kilometers an hour.

A cyclone warning is in place for communities between Elcho Island and Cape Don.

A cyclone watch is also current for areas between Cape Don and Darwin and between Elcho Island and Nhulunbuy.

Forecasters say the cyclone is slowly intensifying and is expected to move towards the Top End coast over the weekend.

Gale force winds and storm surges are expected to develop along the coast on Saturday.

[Hurricanehink]

Wow, that's very strange. JTWC has it as a 60 M.P.H. Tropical Storm, yet they have it as a Cat. 2. I think jtwc may be closer. On sat. imagery, there is no eye, and it isn't that well organized. That's why I like the NHC better, there is only one estimated value. Sometimes cyclone centers can differentiate by more than 30 M.P.H!

[bahamaswx]

I believe they use a different category system for that part of the world.

[Hurricanehink]

Oo, so a Catagory 2 might only be like a 60 M.P.H. system? That makes more sense. Thanks.

[senorpepr]

Sorry, I forgot about the different scales. Here's the scope. According to the Bureau of Meteorlogy in Australia, Debbie is now a cat 3 cyclone. Winds of 106mph with a pressure of 970mb. http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDDP0002.txt

Details of SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE DEBBIE at 9.30 AM CST:
. Centre located near...... 11.0 degrees South 134.0 degrees East
. Location accuracy........ within 45 kilometres
. Recent movement.......... southwest at 10 km/h
. Wind gusts near centre... 170 kilometres per hour
. Intensity................ CATEGORY 3
. Central pressure......... 970 hectoPascals

As for they're cyclone scale...

http://www.bom.gov.au/info/cyclone/#severity

...but converted from km/h to mph...

Cat 1: =<77mph
Cat 2: 78-105mph
Cat 3: 106-139mph
Cat 4: 140-173mph
Cat 5: =>174mph

Now it does appear that AU's met office and JTWC have a strong difference. My personal opinion (take it for what it's worth) is that Debbie is not as strong as what AU is saying. Furthermore, I do feel JTWC is underestimating Debbie a bit. They do that from time to time. Bottom line, JTWC's number is a little more realistic, but still a little slow. Any comments?