Cyclones Katrina and Victor–Cindy
Severe Tropical Cyclones Katrina and Victor–Cindy were a long-lived pair of related tropical cyclones, which moved around the coast of northeastern Australia during parts of January and February 1998, before eventually moving into the southern Indian Ocean. Katrina was the fourth tropical cyclone and named storm of the 1997–98 Australian region cyclone season; Victor–Cindy was the seventh tropical cyclone and named storm of the 1997–98 Australian region cyclone season; after moving into the South-West Indian Ocean, Victor–Cindy became the fifth tropical cyclone and the fourth named storm of the 1997–98 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season. Katrina developed on 1 January and meandered within the Coral Sea between the Queensland coast and Vanuatu for the next three weeks, before degenerating into a remnant low near Far North Queensland on 25 January. After its decay, the remnants of Katrina moved westward over Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf of Carpentaria, before regenerating into Cyclone Victor on February 8, after which the system moved through the Northern Territory and into the Indian Ocean, over the course of the next week. Upon reaching the Indian Ocean on 16 February, the system was named "Cindy" by Mauritius, before eventually dissipating on 19 February. Cyclone Katrina impacted parts of Queensland, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands, killing two people and causing $8.66 million (1998 USD) in damages. Meteorological history Katrina On 1 January, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) started to monitor a tropical low that had developed within the monsoon trough about to the east-northeast of Cairns in Queensland, Australia. During that day, the system moved south-eastward, before it entered an area of weak steering flow, which made the system perform a small cyclonic loop over the next two days. Early on 3 January, the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) initiated advisories on the system and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 12P. This was after the system had rapidly intensified, and a wind report of had been received from Lihou Reef. At about the same time, the BoM named the system Katrina, as it had become a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale. After the system was named, an increase in the deep westerly flow to the north of the system caused Katrina to start moving north-eastward, towards the South Pacific basin. Over the next few days, the system slowly intensified further, as the system's inflow was dominated by Cyclone Susan, which was rapidly intensifying to the west of Vanuatu. Susan's outflow also caused a moderate amount of vertical wind shear over Katrina, which helped to inhibit development of the system and weakened it slightly. Katrina crossed 160°E and moved into the South Pacific basin during 7 January, where it was monitored by the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS), as it passed about to the south of Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands. The system subsequently started move south-eastward towards the island nation of Vanuatu, as started to intensify faster, as Susan moved south-eastward towards Fiji. The system subsequently came