The country of Australia regularly experiences the damaging and deadly effects of tropical cyclones each year, primarily in the states of Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. Each year on average, four tropical cyclones strike the country, and can occur as early as November or as late as May. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) classifies warnings on a scale from one to five, with five as the strongest. The most recent Category 5 cyclone to make landfall in the country was Cyclone Ilsa in April 2023. The most recent cyclone to make landfall was a Category 1 cyclone called Cyclone Koji which hit Queensland in January 2026.
Each year on average, four tropical cyclones make landfall in Australia. The country's cyclone season lasts from November to April. On 21 November 1973, Cyclone Ines became the earliest seasonal landfall in the country in the satellite era. One of the latest storms in a season to affect the country was Cyclone Herbie, which hit Shark Bay, Western Australia, on 21 May, 1988.
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology issues warnings on tropical cyclones, naming them when the cyclone attains gale-force winds. The agency also classifies storms using the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale, with the strongest being a Category 5 on the scale.
Cyclone Mahina struck Bathurst Bay along Cape York Peninsula as a Category 5 cyclone. The cyclone wrecked four schooners, killing 307 people and becoming the deadliest on record in Australia. While moving ashore, the cyclone produced a storm surge of .
On 10 April 1996, Cyclone Olivia moved over Barrow Island of Western Australia and produced the strongest non-tornadic winds ever recorded on Earth, with peak gusts of . The BoM was initially unsure of the veracity of the reading, although a team at the 1999 Offshore Technology Conference presented the reading as the highest wind gust on Earth.
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