Cyclone Mahina
| Category 5 severe tropical cyclone (Aus scale) | |
|---|---|
| Formed | Unknown |
| Dissipated | 5 March 1899 |
| Highest winds |
10-minute sustained: 205 km/h (125 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 880 hPa (mbar); 25.99 inHg (Lowest recorded pressure) |
| Fatalities | Over 300, possibly up to 410 (see casualties) |
| Areas affected | Far North Queensland, Australia |
| Part of the Pre-1970 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone seasons | |
Cyclone Mahina is the deadliest cyclone in recorded Australian history. It struck Bathurst Bay, Cape York, on 4 March 1899, and its winds and storm surge combined to kill more than 300 people.
The World Meteorological Organisation is currently considering an application from Queensland scientists and researchers to have the Mahina's intensity upgraded to 880 hectopascals. This would make it the most intense cyclone recorded to have hit the Australian mainland.
Tropical cyclone Mahina hit on 4 March 1899. It ranks as a Category 5 cyclone, the most powerful of the tropical cyclone severity categories. In addition, Mahina perhaps ranks among the most intense cyclones ever observed in the Southern Hemisphere and almost certainly as the most intense cyclone ever observed off the Eastern states of Australia in recorded history. Clement Lindley Wragge, Government Meteorologist for Queensland pioneered naming of such storms and gave this storm its name, Mahina.
Such storms occur extremely rarely. Scientists identified two other category-4 or 5 super-cyclones in the first half of the 19th century from their effects on the Great Barrier Reef and the Gulf of Carpentaria. This same research shows that on average, such super-cyclones occur in the region only once every two or three centuries.
Contemporary reports vary considerably in the reported lowest barometric pressures. The pressure recorded on the schooner Olive reasonably consistently show her lowest pressure recorded: 29.60 inches of mercury (100.2 kPa) to 29.10 inches of mercury (98.5 kPa) or between 29.00 inches of mercury (98.2 kPa) and 29.10 inches of mercury (98.5 kPa). In a further variant, "during the lull in the hurricane, the barometer on the Olive recorded" 29.70 inches of mercury (100.6 kPa) to 29.10 inches of mercury (98.5 kPa).
Most sources record the schooner Crest of the Wave observation as 27 inches of mercury (91 kPa) More modern reports of an 18-inch observation on a vessel in the eye of Mahina seemingly lack relationship to contemporary records.
One author accepted the 29.1 inches of mercury (99 kPa) report from the Olive and the 27 inches of mercury (91 kPa) report from the Crest of the Wave, seemingly unaware of the discrepant reports. He estimated the track of the cyclone from the damage reports, placing it directly over the position of the Crest of the Wave. The Olive to the north missed the centre. The separation between these schooners explains the difference between their respective pressure measurements. He calculates the centre pressure, standardised for temperature, as 914 hectopascals (13.26 psi).
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