Tropical cyclone Joan developed over the Timor sea and was named on 1 December 1975. The system passed close to the northern tip of Western Australia before moving west to south-westerly over the ocean and gradually intensifying. Late on 6 December, Joan suddenly took a southerly direction; the eye crossed the coast 50 kilometres west of Port Hedland at about 6:00am on 8 December 1975.

Despite Port Hedland not being in the centre of the storm, the township endured winds exceeding 90 kilometres per hour for approximately 10 hours. For three hours, the winds exceeded 120 kilometres per hour. The maximum wind gust measured was 208 kilometres per hour. Severe property damage occurred at Port Hedland and other nearby townships. Eighty-five per cent of all houses were damaged to some degree. Power and communications were lost for several days.

Heavy rainfall inland caused flooding. Marandoo, near Tom Price, registered 591 millimetres while many other sites recorded rainfall over 400 millimetres. The heavy rain occurred along and just east of the cyclone track. Some of the two and three-day totals registered over the Hamersley Range represent in excess of a onc-in-100-year event.

The Insurance Council of Australia estimated the 1975 damage at $20 million, with the 2011 estimated normalised cost of $398 million