Sam originated from a tropical low that formed in the Arafura Sea on 28 November. Tracking generally westward, the initial low-pressure area remained generally weak until it entered the Timor Sea, by which time it had strengthened into a tropical cyclone on 5 December. Though a subtropical ridge was forcing the cyclone westward at the time, an approaching shortwavetrough caused Sam to track southward the following day, towards the Australian coast. During its southward progression, Sam rapidly intensified, and reached its peak intensity on 7 December. The next day, the storm made landfall near Lagrange, Western Australia at the same intensity. Once inland, Sam was slow to weaken as it recurved eastward, and persisted for nearly a week inland before dissipating on 14 December. Throughout its existence, Cyclone Sam brought heavy rainfall to a wide swath of northern Australia. Rainfall peaked at in Shelamar over a 48-hour period ending on 11 December. Upon making landfall, damage was considerable, albeit localized. Most of the destruction wrought by Sam occurred near the coast, particularly in Bidyadanga and Anna Springs Station. Some buildings sustained considerable damage, and trees and power lines were felled, resulting in some power outages. Offshore, 163 illegal immigrants aboard two vessels were feared to have drowned, which would make Sam one of the deadliest cyclones in Australian history. However, these people were later accounted for.
Terri formed on 27 January 2001 near the northern Kimberley coast. The storm paralleled the coast, reaching Category 2 strength before making landfall near Pardoo early on 31 January. The storm dissipated Late on the same day.
Tropical Cyclone Vincent
Cyclone Vincent formed on 7 February 2001, 900 km northwest of Onslow, Western Australia from an active monsoonal trough. Wind shear prevented the tropical low from intensifying for a few days, but once the storm formed it began to move southeast and intensify. Due to wind shear, Vincent peaked with sustained winds of 85 km/h, and did not reach Category 2 intensity. Cyclone Vincent crossed the Western Australia coast as a tropical low, a few kilometres south of Broome, Western Australia.
Tropical Cyclone Winsome
Winsome was a weak system that developed from a low in the Gulf of Carpentaria on 8 February. Torrential rains produced by the storm in the Northern Territory resulted in severe flooding which killed two people.
Wylva formed from a low in the Gulf of Carpentaria on 15 February. Wylva briefly became a Category 1 tropical cyclone before making landfall near Booroloola in the morning of 16 February. Even though the system made landfall in a remote area, the remnants of the system caused $13 million in damage and around 700 people had to be evacuated. The remnants of Wylva dissipated on 22 February near Nanutarra.
Tropical Low 10P (07F)
This storm moved from Brisbane's area of responsibility into Fiji's on 16 February. It dissipated on the 18th.
On 24 February 2001, Cyclone Abigail formed about 80 km northeast of Cairns, Australia. It then made landfall in Queensland as a Category 1 storm.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Walter
Walter was a storm that formed east of Christmas Island and tracked westward at a low latitude. On 3 April, Cocos Island was placed under a cyclone watch as Walter approached the island. Throughout 5 April, heavy rains and high winds, estimated up to battered the area as Walter bypassed the island.
Tropical Cyclone Alistair
The second most damaging cyclone of the 2000–01 cyclone season, Alistair made landfall close to Carnarvon on 24 April 2001 as a poorly organized cyclone. The centre passed just to the north of town with a wind gust to 67 kilometres per hour from the northeast recorded at 4:11 am. Minimum pressure of 1002.9 hPa was recorded at 5 am, followed by the peak recorded wind gust of 90 kilometres per hour from the southeast at 6 am. A total of 24 mm of rainfall was reported in Carnarvon. Plantations to the north of Carnarvon reported 30-40% crop losses, with wind estimates of 100 to 110 kilometres per hour.
Season effects
This is a table of all of the storms that have formed in the 2000–01 Australian region cyclone season. It includes their duration, names, landfall–denoted by bold location names – damages, and death totals. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a wave, or a low, and all of the damage figures are in 2001 AUD and USD.
