Tropical systems that reach Hurricane strength in a region near Australia are known as Cyclones. Cyclones that impact the northern and east coast of Australia are fairly common, but the strongest systems usually steer north of the Island Continent. But on March 5, 1899 one of the most powerful Tropical Cyclones ever to strike the region caused unimaginable damage. Cyclone Mahina was the deadliest cyclone in recorded Australian history, and also likely the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. A pearling fleet, based at Thursday Island, Queensland was anchored in the bay before the storm. Within an hour, the storm drove much of the fleet ashore or onto the Great Barrier Reef. An eyewitness reported that a 48-foot storm surge swept over their camp at Barrow Point atop a 40-foot high ridge and reached 3 miles inland, the largest storm surge ever recorded. The exact number of those that died is unknown – but was probably close to 500.
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This Date in Weather History Update
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2008: F3 tornado strikes Scout camp near Little Sioux, IA
1752: Benjamin Franklin famously flies kite in thunderstorm
1984: Violent tornado outbreak in Russia
The 1953 Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak
1984: F5 tornado destroys 90% of Barneveld, WI
1944: How weather forecasting impacted D-Day
1925: Temperature reaches 100 degrees in Washington DC
1976: Strong tropical cyclone and 40' storm surge hits India
1921: Cloudburst causes 10' of flooding in Pueblo, CO
1889: Flooding of the Potomac River
1965: Tropical system causes 30k fatalities in Bangladesh
1889: The Johnstown Flood
1879: The Real-life inspiration for "The Wizard of Oz"
1914: Empress of Ireland and Storstad ships collide
1880: 1' of rain falls in less than 2 hours in Brackettville, TX
1896: The third most deadly tornado in U.S. history strikes St. Louis
2008: "Pneumonia Front" causes big temperature drops in Chicago
1987: A fisherman is struck and killed by lightning
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