Cyclone Owen has formed in the Coral Sea and will linger there for several days as a lower end Tropical Cyclone or tropical depression. While sea temperatures are ideal for storm growth, high pressure near the tropical storm should limit how deep the low becomes and therefore how intense the cyclone will be.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) named the storm “Owen” over the weekend and expects it won’t climb beyond Category 2.  

WeatherWatch.co.nz says Cyclone Owen is likely to weaken and fall apart this week out over the Coral Sea but that in a week it may reform back into a storm and cyclone again in a very similar location. Long range data suggests Owen will reform next week east of Cairns and remain out over the Coral Sea.  

The storm remains “one to watch” because the Coral Sea is a breeding ground for tropical cyclones and storms that form there often naturally tend to want to move towards Queensland or New Zealand, says WeatherWatch.co.nz.

– Maps by BoM

– WeatherWatch.co.nz