Wind gusts reach 315 km/h as Cyclone Narelle barrels toward Australia
A Category 5 cyclone is about to hit northeastern Australia, one of the strongest on record for the region
Cyclone Narelle has intensified into a Category 5 system, bringing wind gusts of up to 315 km/h. This makes Narelle one of the strongest storms in recent history to approach Queensland’s coastline, according to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology.
If it makes landfall at its current intensity, Narelle will be only the fourth Category 5 cyclone to hit the Queensland coast in the past 50 years.
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Coming from the Coral Sea, Narelle is expected to journey more than 4,000 kilometres across northern Australia's coastline and into the Indian Ocean.
The forecast shows that the storm's path differs from those typically observed during the Atlantic hurricane season. Similar to Atlantic hurricanes, Australian cyclones are influenced by global air circulation patterns. However, unlike the Northern Hemisphere, where storms generally track northeastward, cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere move in the opposite direction: Southwest.
This is also why we often see cyclones that form in the Indian Ocean curve into Western Australia.
Narelle forecast to make landfall Friday
Narelle is expected to make landfall between Lockhart River and Cape Melville on Friday as a Category 5 system.
"Narelle will then continue to move west across the Gulf of Carpentaria, and is forecast to strengthen again to a severe tropical cyclone before impacting the eastern Northern Territory from late Saturday," says the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
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"VERY DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS in excess of 250 km/h are possible near the centre of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle as it crosses the Cape York Peninsula coast on Friday morning. VERY DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS will persist about the centre of Narelle for some distance inland," the bureau warned on Thursday.
Heavy rainfall, with the potential to cause flash flooding, is expected Friday between Cape Melville and Cape Tribulation, extending northward and into inland areas west of Coen. Locally intense rainfall is likely within a region of the peninsula bounded by Lockhart River, Cape Flattery, Pormpuraaw, and Weipa.
Rare, triple landfall possible
Long-range models are still uncertain about Narelle's storm track beyond the weekend, but it is possible we could see the storm make a rare, third landfall over Western Australia.
The last time we saw a tropical cyclone make a triple landfall in Australia's mainland was 21 years ago, in 2005, with Cyclone Ingrid.