CYCLONE INGRID

MARCH 6, 2005 1731 UTC	MARCH 7, 2005 0829 UTC	March 10, 2005 0711 UTC

POWERFUL CYCLONE INGRID MAKES LANDFALL IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

Cyclone Ingrid crossed the eastern shoreline of Queensland, Australia just south of the town of Lockhart River on the morning of 10 March 2005 (local time) as a powerful Category 4 storm with wind gusts estimated at up to 240 kph (149 mph) by the Bureau of Meteorology's Cyclone Warning Centre in Queensland. Fortunately, due to the compact size of the cyclone and the sparsely-populated areas that the storm impacted, there was no widespread damage reported. Five persons were drowned, however, when their boat capsized in heavy seas south of Papua New Guinea.

Since its launch back in the fall of 1997, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (or TRMM) satellite has provided unprecedented and valuable information on tropical cyclones around the Tropics. With an active radar and a passive microwave sensor, TRMM can peer into the very heart of these storms and relay important details on storm structure and location to forecasters. TRMM provided this uniques series of images of Cyclone Ingrid as it took aim on the coast of Queensland. The first image was taken at 17:31 UTC on the 6th of March as Ingrid was intensifying over the Coral Sea. The image shows the horizontal distribution of rain intensity (top down view) as viewed by the TRMM satellite. Rain rates in the center swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), while rain rates in the outer swath are from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). The center of Ingrid falls within the TMI swath in this image. TRMM shows that Ingrid alredy has a well-defined eye outlined by an area of moderate rain intensity (green areas) with evidence of good banding surrounding the eye (green arcs). At the time of this image, Ingrid was the equivalent of a minimal typhoon with maximum sustained winds estimated at 65 knots (75 mph) by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The next image as was taken the next day at 08:29 UTC on the 7th. The PR shows that there are heavy rain rates (red areas) in the southwestern part of the eyewall and in a rainband just south of the center. The eye is small and symmetrical. In addition, Ingrid itself is shown to be a small storm. These rather small, compact cyclones are often referred to as 'midget' cyclones. Ingrid, however, was now an intense cylone with maximum sustained winds estimated at 120 knots (138 mph), equivalent to a Category 4 typhoon. As Ingrid continued to move east towards Australia it strengthened further before starting to weaken as it neared the coast and made landfall on the 10th.

The final image was taken at 07:11 UTC (5:11 pm Australian CST) on the 10th of March. After having crossed to the western side of the Cape York Peninsula, Ingrid weakened substantially as shown by TRMM. There is no longer any evidence of an eye and no signs of organization in the rain field. Ingrid is expected to re-emerge over the warm waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria and head for the Northern Territory.