The latest storm news from the Australian Meteorological Agency on February 7 said that storm Mitchell has formed off the coast of West Australia's Pilbara, bringing strong winds and heavy rain.
Senior storm forecaster Angus Hines of the Australian Meteorological Agency said that the latest storm is 150km off the coast of Australia but extreme weather phenomena have begun to affect it.
Although the storm is at sea, it will continue to bring rain and strong winds to some coastal areas of Western Australia," he said.
This storm has intensified overnight and is likely to strengthen as it enters the mainland on the night of February 7 or early morning of February 8.
The storm will change direction slightly on February 8th, shifting more southward... The current path shows that the storm will reach the coast near Onslow, west of Pilbara. When the storm makes landfall, very strong rain and winds will occur in the northwest of Western Australia" - forecaster Angus Hines noted.
The latest storm forecast bulletins predict that at the end of February 8, Typhoon Mitchell is likely to strengthen to its maximum, becoming a Category 3 hurricane.
The latest storm near Australia will weaken on February 9 but is expected to continue to cause heavy rain throughout the week.
Mr. Hines called on local people to prepare to respond to the storm by stockpiling more food and drinking water in case of water or electricity incidents when the storm makes landfall.
Category 2 and Category 3 hurricanes differ mainly in intensity and destructive ability, in which Category 3 storms cause winds strong enough to uproot trees.
Harsh weather occurred in the coastal area of Australia from February 6. At 2 am on February 6, the tropical depression located about 50km northeast of Broome caused heavy rain in some areas of Kimberley. Curtin recorded rainfall of up to 115mm in just 18 hours, while Broome received more than 50mm of rainfall in the same period.
According to Bloomberg, all major iron ore ports in Australia were closed as Hurricane Mitchell approached. Operations at the ports of Ashburton, Cape Preston West, Dampier, Port Hedland and Varanus Island have been suspended.
Australia's west coast is the country's most important area for iron ore production and export and also has some oil and gas exploitation activities.
The hurricane season in Australia lasts from November to the end of April. The impact of Hurricane Mitchell is the first major disruption caused by hurricanes in this year's hurricane season. Last year, the increased number of strong storms affected ports and reduced iron ore exports from this region for months.
