Weather News

Flooding likely as cyclone threat looms

Ben Domensino, Wednesday March 22, 2017 - 13:41 AEDT

Tropical lows and flooding rain will threaten Australia's east and west this week.

Two tropical lows have developed in Australian waters, one to the north of Western Australia's Pilbara District and the second over the northern Coral Sea.

Whether or not these lows become cyclones, parts of Western Australia and Queensland are likely to experience flooding in the days ahead.

The low near WA was positioned about 400km north of Karratha at 8am AWST today and was moving towards the east Pilbara coast. The low will continue moving south and should make landfall over the Pilbara tomorrow, as a tropical low.

The main threat from this system will be rainfall and flooding, although these impacts a won't be confined to the tropics. A river of strong upper-level winds called the jet stream will carry moisture more than 1000 kilometres across the state's western and southern inland during the coming days, where flooding is likely.

Rain and storms will bring widespread rainfall totals of 50-100mm to the Pilbara, eastern Gascoyne, Goldfields and South East Coastal Districts between now and Sunday. Isolated higher totals in excess of 200mm are possible about the Pilbara and Goldfields. This rain is likely to cut off roads and may isolate some outback communities.

The second low in focus is sitting over the northern Coral Sea today and is expected to approach Queensland's central or northeast coast this weekend.

Forecast models are not agreeing on the movement and intensity of this system in coming days, so predicting its impacts is difficult.

Most models indicate that the system will approach the coast somewhere between Cooktown and Bowen early next week. The most likely impact at this stage will be flooding from heavy rain, although damaging wind, large seas and coastal inundation would occur if it reaches cyclone strength before landfall.

The heavy rain that has targeted Queensland's central coast this week should move north from Friday as the low approaches the state.

Australia typically sees 11 tropical cyclones between November and April, although last season's total of three was the lowest on record. The next cyclone to form in Australian waters will be named Caleb and will be the fourth for the current season.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2017

Enter a postcode or town name for local weather, or text to search the site. » advanced search

Weather News

» all stories

Winter is Coming: Chilly day for Sydney, rain pelts eastern seaboard

17:22 AEST Just as we forecast yesterday, a coastal trough has deepened along the NSW and southeast Qld coasts as a low in the Coral Sea continues to inch closer to Qld. The trough has brought some interesting weather to NSW in the past 36 hours or so, particularly along the coastal fringe, giving those New South Welshmen a “Stark” Game of Thrones reminder: winter is coming.