Tropical Cyclone Narelle LIVE updates: Exmouth, Coral Bay in firing line as category 4 storm hits WA’s north

Tropical Cyclone Narelle is predicted to cross the coast between Coral Bay and Cape Cuvier as a category 4 system today.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Ilana Cherny said the system was moving “swiftly” to the south-southwest at a speed of around 18km/h, having brought winds of 185km/h with gusts as high as 260km/h as it passed Barrow Island.

“Narelle is now located north of Exmouth and is starting to curve around more to the south,” she said.

“It’s expected to pass close to the North West Cape as a category 4 cyclone this morning.

“These incredibly strong winds can cause significant damage, even to strongly built structures.

“The area experiencing the strongest winds will extend south to Carnarvon and Denham during this morning and afternoon, and some of those destructive winds will extend further south to Kalbarri later today, and possibly as far south as Morawa during Saturday morning.”

Cherny said the system was on track to cross onshore during the afternoon, but if it remained offshore longer it could cross further south, near Denham.

“Once onshore, the system will track to the south-east and continue to weaken with impacts extending through the Gascoyne and the central west and then further inland into the south-west land division,” she said.

It is likely the system will have weakened to a tropical low by the time it passes east of Perth on Saturday afternoon.

However, Perth is still set to feel some of the after-effects of the storm, including damaging wind gusts and heavy rain.

“Some storms could move through Perth on Friday, ahead of Narelle’s arrival, and during Friday and Saturday combined, much of the south-west, including the Perth metro area, could see between 50 to 100 millimetres of rain, with some areas even seeing more than this,” Cherny said.

“This much rain around Perth is enough to lead to areas of flash flooding, and is also going to put a lot of rain into the rivers around south-west Western Australia.

“We do have a flood watch that’s been issued all the way from the Exmouth area down to the Swan River in Perth.”

Good morning readers, and welcome to our live coverage of Tropical Cyclone Narelle, the re-intensified storm system which began its life off the coast of Queensland and, having traversed the top of the nation, is now ravaging communities in WA’s north-west.

As of 6am, the cyclone is sitting off the coast of Exmouth, right on top of Ninagaloo Reef, as a severe category 4 system.

A Bureau of Meteorology forecast map shows the storm tracking south directly over the coastal tourism town of Coral Bay before weakening to a category 3 as it passes over Carnarvon. There is a chance it could remain as strong as category 2 when it passes over Morawa, further south in WA’s Mid West.

Category 4 storms are deemed “severe” for a reason. At the centre of the system are sustained winds of 175km/h, with gusts up to 250km/h.

A cyclone emergency warning is in place for the coastal Pilbara, from Onslow and Barrow Island – home to Chevron’s Gorgon LNG project – down to Shark Bay and Denham, with residents urged to shelter indoors as the storm hits.

Stay with us today as we bring you the latest updates as the cyclone crosses the coast and makes its way south.