Cyclone Billy Drenches Australia's 'Top End'

The classic clockwise swirl of a Southern Hemisphere cyclone can be seen at the center of Cyclone Billy.

The overhead midsummer sun shining down on the Timor Sea on Friday fueled the circulation of developing Tropical Cyclone Billy, located just off the coast of Australia at the border of the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Surrounded by land on three sides just north from the city of Wyndham, the storm was not expected to strengthen into a significant cyclone through the weekend.

But its slow movement and abundant moisture supply during development had created heavy downpours that brought 12 inches (30 cm) of rainfall to Wadeye, Northern Territory, by Friday morning.

Heavy rain had also fallen in several other parts of what is known as Australia’s Top End, from the storm’s center northeastward to Darwin.

Forecasters at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology predicted on Friday that Billy would continue to produce heavy rainfall over the Darwin-Daly district, the northern Victoria River district and around Kimberley for the following three days.

The agency issued a cyclone warning for coastal communities from Kalumburu in Western Australia to Port Keats in the Northern Territory. Warning Map

Gale-force winds with gusts to near 70 mph (110 km/h) were expected to develop on the coast between Kalumburu and Port Keats late Friday, then extend inland to the Kimberley region on Saturday.

Cyclone Billy Track

Satellite Loop: University of Wisconsin