2015–16 Australian region cyclone season

Tropical low (Australian scale)
Duration	17 December – 23 December
Peak intensity	Winds not specified; 1006 hPa (mbar)

On 16 December, TCWC Perth mentioned that a tropical low may develop northwest of Christmas Island.[8] The agency declared to be a tropical low by the next day when it was producing convection in its area.[9] On 20 December, TCWC Jakarta issued an advisory as the low was inside their area of responsibility, as it was located about 567 km (352 mi) south-southwest of Tanjung Karang.[10] TCWC Perth forecast the low would intensify to a tropical cyclone and move into the Western Region by 24 hours on 21 December.[11] The low was later designated as 04U on 23 December, however, this was the last advisory issued by TCWC Perth and rapidly dissipated overnight.[12][13]

Tropical low (Australian scale)
Duration	21 December – 1 January
Peak intensity	55 km/h (35 mph) (10-min); 994 hPa (mbar)

Tropical Low 05U developed over land near Borroloola in the Northern Territory during 21 December.[14][15] Over the next couple of days, the system gradually deepened further as it moved west-northwest inland and passed near Daly Waters and Katherine. The system subsequently approached Darwin during 24 December, where it was causing near gale-force winds offshore. On 26 December, 05U was embedded within a monsoon, giving a potential of intensifying into a tropical cyclone.[16] A couple of days later, 05U drifted southeastwards towards land and failed to reach tropical cyclone intensity.[17] The system was last noted on 2 January while it was located over the Simpson Desert in Queensland, as it was not clear if the low continued towards the east coast or another system had developed.[14]

Category 2 tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Category 1 tropical cyclone (SSHWS)
Duration	27 January – 31 January
Peak intensity	100 km/h (65 mph) (10-min); 980 hPa (mbar)

During 27 January, the BoM reported that Tropical Low 08U had developed about 750 km (465 mi) to the north of Port Hedland, Western Australia.[18] The system was located within a favorable environment for further development and was forecast to develop into a tropical cyclone over the next couple of days, as it moved southwards towards the coast of Western Australia. 08U was subsequently declared a Category 1 tropical cyclone on 29 January and was named Stan by the BoM. Stan continued to intensify during the day as it slowly moved in a southeast direction towards the east Pilbara coast. Stan reached category 2 tropical cyclone strength at 8:00 pm AWST time, when it was located 280 km north of Port Hedland. Stan maintained category 2 strength during the course of 30 January. Category 1 strength hurricane-force winds formed around 9:30 am AWST the same day, near Rowley Shoales where Stan was 100 km south of the island. Stan crossed the east Pilbara coast between Port Hedland and Wallal as a strong category 2 tropical cyclone at 2:00 am AWST. Stan proceeded to weaken while moving inland, becoming a category 1 tropical cyclone at 8:00 am the same day, and further weakened to become a tropical low at 2:00 pm that afternoon. The remnants of Stan caused record breaking rain in South Australia. Coffin Bay received 75.8mm of rain, The Nullarbor received 62.4mm, and Port Lincoln received 49.6mm of rainfall.[19]

Category 2 tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
Duration	9 February – 14 February (Exited basin)
Peak intensity	95 km/h (60 mph) (10-min); 987 hPa (mbar)

Tropical Low 09U developed over the Indian Ocean to the northwest of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, within a monsoon trough of low pressure during 9 February. Over the next few days, the system moved slowly in an area of weak steering flow as it struggled to develop further before it started moving turned to the southwest during 12 February. Later that day the system passed about 100 km (62 mi) to the northwest of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, before conditions became favorable for further development as the system moved away from the islands. As a result, the low was named Uriah by the BoM during 13 February, as it developed into a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale. The JTWC also initiated advisories on the system during that day and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 13S. Over the next day, the system continued to move south-westwards and became a Category 2 tropical cyclone with 10-minute sustained winds of 95 km/h (60 mph). The system moved out of the region and into the South West Indian Ocean basin during 14 February, where it became an intense tropical cyclone before degenerating into a remnant low on 19 February.

Category 2 tropical cyclone (Australian scale)
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
Duration	9 February – 14 February
Peak intensity	95 km/h (60 mph) (10-min); 982 hPa (mbar)

Tropical Low 10U developed during 9 February within the central Coral Sea, about 900 km (560 mi) to the southwest of Honiara in the Solomon Islands.[20][21] The system was located within a favorable environment for further development, with the low-level circulation center gradually consolidating, while deep atmospheric convection wrapped into the system. Over the next couple of days, the system gradually developed further as it moved eastwards before the JTWC initiated advisories on the system and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 12P during 10 February.[22] Over the next day, the system continued to develop and was named Tatiana by the BoM, as it developed into a Category 1 tropical cyclone.[23]

By this time Tatiana had started to move towards the east-southeast under the combined influence of the monsoon flow and a trough of low pressure. The system subsequently peaked as a Category 2 tropical cyclone with 10-minute sustained winds of 95 km/h (60 mph) during 12 February, before it moved just out of the Australian region and into the South Pacific basin.[20] The system subsequently moved southwards and rapidly weakened during the next day, before it lost its tropical characteristics and degenerated into a subtropical low during 14 February, as the storm moved back into the Australian Basin.[20] After the system had degenerated into a subtropical low, it produced some powerful, long period swells along southeast Queensland beaches.[20]

Tropical low (Australian scale)
Duration	1 March – 6 March
Peak intensity	65 km/h (40 mph) (10-min); 1000 hPa (mbar)

On 1 March, BoM started monitoring a weak tropical low to the south of Java, Indonesia. The low moved in a westward direction until on 5 March, the BoM started issuing bulletins on the system with the designation of 12U and winds of 65 km/h (40 mph), however, it was still classified as a tropical low since gale-force winds were only found in the southern quadrants. The tropical low moved out of the basin on 6 March, without intensifying into a Category 1 tropical cyclone.

Tropical low (Australian scale)
Tropical storm (SSHWS)
Duration	14 March – 16 March
Peak intensity	55 km/h (35 mph) (10-min); 998 hPa (mbar)

Tropical Low 14U developed within a monsoon trough near Vanderlin Island, in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria, on 14 March.[14]

On 1 July, as the 2015–16 tropical cyclone year opened, the newly named Tropical Cyclone Raquel moved southwestward into the Australian region.[1][14] During that day the system started to move eastwards in response to the background westerly flow before it weakened below tropical cyclone intensity as it moved back into the South Pacific basin during July 2.[1][14][24] The system subsequently moved back into the Australian region during 4 July, as it moved through the Solomon Islands.[1][25] The system was subsequently last noted by the BoM to the southwest of Guadalcanal, on 5 July, as it rapidly lost its tropical characteristics.[26]

A low-pressure developed east of the 90th meridian east or the border of the basin on 26 December, and had a moderate chance of intensifying into a tropical cyclone.[27] TCWC Perth later classified it as a weak tropical low with the identifier of 06U.[28] On 28 December, as the low slowly moved south, unfavorable environments hinder the chance of being a cyclone.[29] TCWC Perth made its final bulletin of the tropical low as it slowly drifted west on 29 December.[30] During 19 January Tropical Low 07U developed within the monsoon trough of low pressure, about 300 km (185 mi) to the west of West Island in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.[31] Over the next couple of days, the system moved north-eastwards and tried to develop further in a marginally conducive environment for further development.[32] However, the system weakened on 21 January, before it was last noted on 24 January, as it was not expected to develop into a tropical cyclone.[33][34] During 14 February a weak tropical low lied in an area of marginal conditions for further develop near Christmas Island.[35] Over the next couple of days, environmental conditions surrounding the system became less favorable for further development, before the system was last noted during 16 February.[35][36] During 26 February, Winston entered the basin as an extratropical cyclone, whilst the JTWC classified it as a subtropical cyclone;[37][38][39] ultimately, it made landfall over Queensland as a tropical low and quickly degenerated into a trough, on 3 March.[40][41][42][43]