&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Tropical Cyclone Narelle is Cat 5: Australia's Queensland coast braces for once-in-100-year event")
Tropical Cyclone Narelle has strengthened into a Category 5 storm and could lash the Queensland coast. Experts are calling it a "serious" event that has barely been witnessed in the past decades. If Narelle crosses the Queensland coast, it will only be the fourth time it has happened in 50 years. If the storm crosses over the coast between Lockhart River and Cooktown, it will be the first time in over 100 years, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said. The Category 5 storm is expected to cross the coast Friday morning, with intense rainfall and strong winds lashing the coastal regions. This will create a risk of flash flooding in the region. Narelle has been tracked moving towards the coast between Lockhart River and Cooktown. Crisafulli said preparations are being made to weather the storm, and people have been warned to take precautions. "It's a serious event, a significant event, and we're asking people to take precautions and do the little things that make all the difference," Nine News quoted the Premier as saying.
Tropical Cyclone Narelle path
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, wind gusts will reach in excess of 225km/hr. Cape Tribulation to Lockhart River and inland to the western side of the Cape form the cyclone zone with warnings in place. Crisafulli said that the storm is expected to weaken as it crosses over. However, "it still has the potential to have some serious winds as it goes across those communities all the way across." After crossing over Cape York Peninsula as a tropical cyclone, it will move west across the Gulf of Carpentaria. It will then reach the eastern Northern Territory over the weekend, and is likely to once again strengthen into a severe tropical cyclone. Narelle is forecast to reintensify off the Kimberley coast next week and will then shift into the Indian Ocean.
About Tropical Cyclone Narelle - A very compact cyclone
Tropical Cyclone Narelle formed in the Coral Sea. The storm has been fuelled by the high sea surface temperatures in the northwest Coral Sea, which are currently 0.5–1.0°C above average. It is moving towards Cape York at a rapid speed of 26km per hour. Experts say Narelle is a very compact cyclone, meaning it has a small area of intense winds around its centre. Because of this, hurricane-force winds only extend 50km from its centre.
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The same area of Queensland was struck by Cyclone Mahina in March 1899, which is considered the deadliest tropical cyclone in the recorded history of the country. It is also considered potentially the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded globally.
