2018 South Indian cyclone season
Cyclone Marcus 2018
Marcus damaged Darwin and parts of northern Australia before reaching its greatest strength offshore. Its Category 5 phase occurred well after the cyclone's early land crossings.
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173 mph
Mar 21, 2018 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Damage during the northern Australia passage
Marcus developed in the seas north of Australia in mid-March and moved southeastward toward the Northern Territory. It crossed the coast and affected Darwin as a Category 2 cyclone on the Australian scale, then continued toward the Kimberley region.
Destructive winds affected electricity supplies to about 26,000 homes, including areas south of Darwin. Thousands of trees fell across the greater Darwin region. Flights and major events had been canceled ahead of the cyclone's approach.
A much stronger cyclone offshore
Marcus intensified rapidly after moving away from the coast. Archived sustained winds reached 150 knots on March 21, equivalent to Category 5 strength. The peak was brief: an eyewall replacement cycle, increasing wind shear and cooler water soon caused rapid weakening.
The cyclone continued southward and lost its tropical structure. Its remnant low moved southeast before dissipating off southwestern Australia on March 27, after the end of the main archived track.
IMPACT
Reported impact
| Areas affected | Australia |
|---|
Facts from Wikidata.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Marcus in brief
What was Cyclone Marcus's highest wind speed?
173 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Mar 21, 2018, 06:00 PM UTC.
What category was Cyclone Marcus?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Mar 21, 2018, 12:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Cyclone Marcus's lowest pressure?
906 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Mar 21, 2018, 06:00 PM UTC.
When did Cyclone Marcus occur?
The archived track runs from Mar 14, 2018, 12:00 AM UTC to Mar 25, 2018, 12:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Mar 14, 2018, 12:00 AM UTC to Mar 24, 2018, 09:00 PM UTC.
Where did Cyclone Marcus form?
In the South Indian basin, in the 2018 season. Its first archived position is 9°S, 129°E on Mar 14, 2018, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Cyclone Marcus make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 3 recorded positions; the strongest is 75 mph on Mar 18, 2018, 03:00 AM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology