Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila is heading towards the Far North Queensland coast, with authorities warning of potential landfall early next week – and it’s not the only system Australians need to watch out for.
The powerful category 4 cyclone is slowly tracking west through the Solomon Sea, between Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, the Bureau of Meteorology confirmed on Thursday.
“Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila is currently a Severe Category 4 system. It’s currently producing wind gusts of 260km/hr. It is still well away from Australia … through today it will start to move towards the west and towards the Australian mainland,” Senior meteorologist Jonathan How said.
Over the weekend, Maila is expected to move into the Coral Sea before making its final approach towards Far North Queensland’s coast on Sunday and into Monday, with a coastal crossing likely around Tuesday early next week.
“Confidence is increasing that Maila’s track will take it towards northern parts of Cape York Peninsula. As it moves closer towards the coast we will see winds picking up along the north east tropical coast, particularly on Monday, while showers will increase to rain as the system draws nearer.” Mr How said.
The Bureau said there was an “increasingly likely” chance Maila will would remain at tropical cyclone intensity through to early next week, though the risk will drop from high to moderate after the system crosses the Far North Queensland coast.
However, forecasters warn there’s a “moderate chance” the cyclone will re-intensify after making landfall, potentially threatening communities on the western side of Cape York Peninsula.
“There is a moderate chance the system will re-intensify in The Gulf of Carpentaria later in the forecast period,” it said.
Still recovering from Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle, which devastated parts of Far North Queensland less than three weeks ago, the region will be eyeing up the storm as it moves closer.
Mr How said there was an “increasing” likelihood Cyclone Maila will cross around Cooktown and Lockhart River, close to where Tropical Cyclone Narelle hit last month.
“Communities in these areas could see damaging to destructive winds as well as heavy rainfall and flooding and coastal erosion.” Mr How said.
Meanwhile, a separate tropical low (38U) is forecast to form over the next few days, northwest of Christmas Island.
The developing system is expected to move southeast at first, bringing increased showers and storms to Christmas Island before steering west-southwest over open waters by the weekend.
The Bureau said there was currently a “low chance” of the system developing into a tropical cyclone from Saturday.
“It is still five days away and Maila’s exact path, strength and timing will be influenced by a number of factors before then,”
“We are encouraging residents in the region and those visiting to stay on top of the latest information as we head into next week,” Mr How said.
