According to the latest storm news from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), Hurricane Narelle formed from a tropical depression on March 17 south of the Solomon Islands and is moving west towards the Cape York Peninsula.
The possibility of the storm making landfall in the area near Coen, northern Queensland around the evening of March 20 or earlier from the evening of March 19 is very high.
Meteorologists say Hurricane Narelle is strengthening faster than expected, reaching level 1 and rapidly increasing to level 2 in a short time. It is forecast that in the coming days, the system may continue to strengthen to level 3, level 4, even approaching level 5 before making landfall.
Current wind speed: about 110 km/h, gusts up to 155 km/h
Wind speed when making landfall can reach 200-250 km/h in the storm center - super typhoon level.
The probability of the storm maintaining strong intensity when it reaches the shore is 80-90%.
Environmental conditions such as high sea temperatures of 29-30 degrees Celsius, high humidity and weak winds are creating favorable conditions for the storm to continue to strengthen.
According to the latest weather forecasts, the area directly affected stretches about 260 km along the coast, from Cooktown to Coen. Extremely strong gusts of wind can exceed 200 km/h. Very heavy rain, possibly reaching 100 mm in 6 hours and 200 mm in 24 hours, accompanied by the risk of flash floods, flooding and strong tides.
A noteworthy point in Hurricane Narelle's forecast is the possibility that this system could make landfall up to three times in mainland Australia, which has rarely happened in more than 20 years.
After entering Cape York, the storm may move through the Carpentaria Bay, continue to affect Northern Territory and even move to Western Australia next week.
This scenario is similar to rare storms such as Hurricane Ingrid (2005).
Tourists planning to visit Queensland, especially the northern area of Australia, should pay special attention to closely following storm forecasts and weather forecasts in the coming days. Follow evacuation instructions and warnings from local authorities.
The Queensland government has begun evacuating people in high-risk areas, and deployed emergency forces to respond to one of the strongest storm scenarios in many years.
