Cyclone Lua

Category 3 severe tropical cyclone (Aus scale)
Category 2 (Saffir–Simpson scale)
Cyclone Lua near landfall on 17 March
Formed	12 March 2012
Dissipated	18 March 2012
Highest winds	10-minute sustained: 155 km/h (100 mph) 1-minute sustained: 175 km/h (110 mph) Gusts: 220 km/h (140 mph)
Lowest pressure	935 hPa (mbar); 27.61 inHg
Fatalities	None
Damage	> $230 million (2012 USD)
Areas affected	Western Australia
Part of the 2011–12 Australian region cyclone season

Severe Tropical Cyclone Lua affected a sparsely populated region of Western Australia during mid-March 2012. Originating in a broad low pressure area that formed northwest of Australia by 8 March, the storm was plagued by inhibiting wind shear for the duration of its formative stages. However, it gradually organized, and received the name Lua on 13 March. The cyclone meandered for the first several days of its existence, caught between weak and competing steering currents. After the cyclone drifted northwestward, a building ridge of high pressure to the north drove Lua southeastward toward the Pilbara region. Ultimately intensifying into an upper-end Category 3 severe tropical cyclone with maximum sustained 10-minute winds of 155 km/h (100 mph), Lua made landfall near the remote community of Pardoo, about 150 km (95 mi) east of Port Hedland. It steadily weakened as it progressed south over interior Western Australia, diminishing below tropical cyclone status on 18 March.

The threat of the impending cyclone halted local industries such as oil production and iron ore mining and exporting. The Port of Port Hedland, a highly important iron ore shipping terminal, was forced to close for about 52 hours, contributing to inflated iron ore prices and delayed shipments. Multiple companies suspended work at oil fields and mines throughout the region, cutting national oil production by 25% and iron ore exports by 4.7% versus the previous month. Overall, Lua is attributed to $217 million (2012 AUD; $230 million 2012 USD) in lost revenue. Lua produced strong winds and widespread rainfall on land, but damage was limited by the lack of population in the storm's path. The Pardoo Roadhouse bore the brunt of the storm, and damage was reported at several other cattle stations and homesteads; at these sites, the storm damaged the exteriors of various structures and brought down swaths of trees. Central Western Australia endured several days of record-breaking rainfall and cool weather. The Government of Western Australia provided disaster relief funds to the hardest-hit areas, and Lua was later retired from the list of tropical cyclone names.