Hector the storm erupts over Tiwi Islands most afternoons
Hector, a named thunderstorm, forms most afternoons over the Tiwi Islands during the wet season.
Every afternoon from September to February, one of the largest storm clouds on Earth towers over the Tiwi Islands north of Darwin. The storm rises up to 20 kilometres high.
Locals call it Hector. World War II pilots named it.
Those pilots used the reliable storm as a navigation guide when flying between Darwin and Papua New Guinea. The storm is so reliable that meteorologists can predict when it forms.
Hector rises where warm tropical seas meet Melville Island, Australia's second-largest. The island's geography creates the right conditions for it.
Moisture comes from the surrounding ocean. Heat builds across the island's center.
Sea breezes converge and force air upward every afternoon. Indigenous communities of the Tiwi Islands tracked Hector for centuries using traditional seasonal calendars.
- 20 kilometres
- Height
- September to February
- Season
- up to 2,000mm
- Annual rainfall on Tiwi Islands
- 50 millimetres in a couple of hours
- Rainfall rate
Why it mattersHector defies expectations by forming at the same place and time every day. Forecasters rarely achieve this anywhere on Earth.
AustraliaThe Tiwi Islands receive up to 2,000mm of rain yearly largely thanks to Hector, shaping the wet season for the Top End.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
