Tropical Cyclone Hazel formed off the northwest Kimberley coast and reached maximum gusts of 137 km per hour at Carnarvon.

The cyclone caused an estimated $20m worth of damage including $5m to wharf and salt loading equipment at Cape Cuvier and $2m to the banana crop in Carnarvon. A crew of 15 on a Taiwanese fishing boat was lost in heavy seas, 230 km north of Barrow Island. Considerable damage also occurred to buildings, trees, pasture and stock feed in the northern agricultural area especially around Geraldton.

The Insurance Council of Australia estimated the 1979 damage at $15 million, with the 2011 estimated normalised cost of $202 million.