Current Australian Cyclone Information
& Tropical Cyclone Tracking Maps
for Australia, the South Pacific and Hong Kong

 

 

 

Current Australian Tropical Cyclone Information
- updated frequently during Australian region cyclones

Worldwide Tropical Cyclone Links
- for current cyclone information, arranged by regions

Australian Tropical Cyclone Tracking Maps
- small range covering cyclone prone regions

New! Complete Range of Australian Cyclone Tracking Maps
- various sizes designed for Printing & Screen
(on the new website - special thanks to Stephen Galowski!)

South Pacific Islands Tropical Cyclone Tracking Maps
- covering the region E of Australia to Tahiti

Hong Kong Tropical Cyclone Tracking Maps
(these old maps need revising!)

Tropical Cyclone Archives Website
for the years 1999, 2000, and 2001
(incomplete due to ISP site size reduction)

Ken Ring's Weather Ezine Archive
Lunar Cycle Based Long Range Weather Forecasting
(complete archive of pre-topica back issues).

World Wide Weather Links Page
(old page that needs revising)

Copyright & Contact

Source Acknowledgements

Disclaimer

 

 

My primary reason for setting up this website is to make available a set of free tropical cyclone tracking maps for any cyclone prone location on mainland Australia. I think I have now achieved this!

This project started with my desire to be able to accurately plot the 0.1° position of cyclones as given in Australian Bureau of Meteorology Tropical Cyclone Warnings.

Having experienced several tropical cyclones which I plotted using the cyclone tracking maps as supplied in phone books with their 1° grids, I found estimating the 0.1° positions on the maps whilst the wind was howling outside to be difficult, especially by torch light after the power failed. Whilst I was most grateful for the inclusion of these maps in local phone books, I felt that they could be improved to make them easier to use.

After getting a computer (a 17mHz Mac 68k PowerBook 4MB / 40MB OS 7.1) and undergoing the steep learning curve of learning to use it, I set about trying to create my own cyclone tracking maps, and to cut a long story short, after several generations of maps and computer upgrades (now a 300 mHz Mac G3 B&W 348MB / 80GB & 6GB OSX 10.3.9) the results are here and here for any member of the public to download and use in the privacy of their own home free of charge!

 

Over time, I added many satellite images, maps, and animations of cyclones to my website, however a recent reduction in available webspace means that I have to be more selective and focussed in what I can display here, so most archival type material has been removed and must now wait until I can find a home somewhere to display it.

Please note that I fully appreciate the generosity of my local Gold Coast ISP - Ace-Net Pty. Ltd., owned by QldNet, which is in turn owned by Chariot Internet - for having made extra server space available to me free of extra charges for so long, and I fully understand that due to the rampant abuses of a few, all users are now required to fit their websites within their alloted server space.

Update! Extra space has now been made available, and building the new site is now underway! The complete range of Cyclone Tracking Maps for printing and various screen sizes is now uploaded here! Special thanks to Stephen Galowski of NetComputers for providing the website space!

Now that extra web space is available, over time all archival type material will migrate over to the new NetComputers webspace, and this site will become dedicated to information for and animations of the current / most recent Australian cyclone season, perhaps with some other interesting current weather stuff thrown in - the smaller range of cyclone tracking maps will remain on this website so that tracking maps will always be available even if one of the servers is down for any reason.

 

This website is undergoing a significant revision...
...I think it is always under revision!

Some material that was available here is gone due to website size limitations, some outdated pages are are being removed or updated, and some new pages have appeared or will do so soon.

Those who have pages bookmarked may need to delete or change them. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

 

Copyright & Contact

© Copyright 2004 - 2005 C.B.Smith - All Rights Reserved.

Permission is hereby granted for non-commercial private users to download and print these maps for their own personal and private use.

Persons engaged in tracking cyclones for public safety reasons, such as employees of government departments or those involved in emergency services organisations like state based SES groups may also download and print these maps for the purpose of tracking cyclones, and may also utilise them via the media to raise public awareness of a potential threat - it is OK to add the name of your organisation and a small logo in these circumstances provided it does not obscure any part of the copyright notice.

Local councils and non-profit community groups in cyclone prone areas may download and print these maps for local public distribution provided the maps are not modified in any way and such distribution is free of charge.

Schools may use these maps for teaching cyclone awareness, and may also distribute them to students and parents in cyclone prone areas, provided the maps are not modified in any way and such distribution is free of charge.

Commercial media organisations are prohibited from printing, displaying, or broadcasting these maps without the express permission of the copyright owner, except as is allowed above in the form of third party presentations in the public interest.

All other uses, such as reproducing and offering for sale or as part of any publication in any form offered for sale, use in advertising, or other purposes not covered above, are prohibited without the express permission of the copyright owner.

For more information contact Carl Smith by email: carls@qldnet.com.au

 

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Jon Gill, Services Policy Branch, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, for his valuable feedback on the contents of my website, and for sending me a list of place names used by the BoM in their official warnings. The information he provided has been most helpful in preparing the Australian Region Tropical Cyclone Tracking Maps.

Online Map Creation - the Australian map coastlines are based on digital maps drawn by submitting requests to the map drawing page of the OMC website which uses "Generic Mapping Tools (GMT)" to draw your maps and load them into your browser.

Australian Geographic Place Names (Gazetteer) - many of the Australian map location coordinates were found in this Australian Government database.

GEMPAK Weather Station tables - the Meteorological Station coordinates for Willis Island, Queensland, and Giles, Western Australia, were found here.

 

Disclaimer

Whilst I have done my best to ensure these maps are accurate, there may be errors, and I am not in any way responsible for any specific use that may be made of the maps, nor am I liable for any damage that may result from their use or misuse. It is the responsibility of the end users to determine whether or not the maps are suitable for their purposes

 

Other websites maintained by Carl Smith:
Alive Clinics Website
My Subdomain at Alive Clinics
My Cyclones Pages at NetComputers

 

This website is sponsored by:
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