Keith, the distance from Innisfail to Cardwell is about 90km, not 50km.

One factor not mentioned with regard to the cyclones that strike around that area, is that there are high mountains, including Qld's highest , Mt Bartle Frere of about 1700 metres , north of Innisfail , high mountains of about 1100 metres on Hinchinbrook Island, south of Cardwell, and a mountain range in between. Although a very big cyclone struck Innisfail around 1918, the locals had a theory that the mountains deter big cyclones from crossing that stretch of coast. These mountains may have influenced the wind behaviour of Larry and Yasi when they crossed the coast .

Fester,

Wivenhoe's effect. There is to be an official enquiry into it's effect or lack of it.

Raycom,

You're right, a misprint, thanks for picking it up. Although I must say that extra 40km distance isn't all that critical in a cyclone as big as Yasi.
There's been other cyclones through the area the last I recall was in the eighties through Mission Beach.

Mark Lawson points to research that in turn points to "the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), or Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), as an over arching climate cycle which governs the number and duration of the shorter, better known La Niña and El Niño climate cycles that directly affect rainfall in eastern Australia."

Back in March 2007, at the height of the recent drought and associated SEQ water shortages, there was an article published on OLO, 'What's a bone dry city worth?', by Peter Ravenscroft. I made a number of posts to the discussion thread to that article. During research for one of them, I came across an article submitted by Peter Ravenscroft to the Brisbane Institute dated 16 February 2006. This is the link to the OLO post in which I made reference to Ravenscroft's Brisbane Institute paper: http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=5616#75114

An illustration in that Brisbane Institute article, titled 'The Underlying Pattern', showed a graph of Brisbane rainfall 1840-2004. The graph showed an apparent 'rolling wave' as to annual rainfall totals over those 164 years and Brisbane's present position in relation to it. As I remember the graph, it showed only around two complete cycles of this 'rolling wave' over this period.

I say 'as I remember', because when I recently revisited the link I posted on OLO back in 2007 to Ravenscroft's 2006 Brisbane Institute article, all I got was a '404 message'. See: http://www.brisinst.org.au/resources/brisbane_institute_water_crisis.html

The paper had been taken down from the Brisbane Institute website.
http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=11583#199080

I am just wondering as to whether that long-period 'rolling wave' was an as then un-named manifestation of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or an over-arching climate cycle arising from the interaction of a number of phenomena of the like of the PDO? Perhaps, if it is not already known to Mark Lawson (OLO userID 'Curmudgeon'), it might be worth pursuing a copy of Ravenscroft's paper, especially as to its significance with respect to the 1990 cancellation of the Wolfdene Dam project, and the subsequent flood-mitigation management of Wivenhoe Dam.