Update for the Tropical Low this morning 24 January 2024.
In a nutshell it is gained strength, may become a Cyclone this afternoon and is still travelling at 7 km/h.

TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST
TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 11
Issued at 4:56 am EST on Wednesday 24 January 2024
Headline:
Tropical cyclone impacts likely to begin for coastal and island communities Wednesday night.

Areas Affected:
Warning Zone
Ayr to Mackay, including Mackay, Bowen and the Whitsunday Islands.

Watch Zone
Cairns to Ayr (not including Cairns), including Townsville and extending inland to Charters Towers. Mackay to St Lawrence.

Cancelled Zone
None.

Details of Tropical Low at 4:00 am AEST:
Intensity: Tropical Low, sustained winds near the centre of 75 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 95 kilometres per hour.

Location: within 65 kilometres of 17.2 degrees South 152.9 degrees East, estimated to be 690 kilometres east northeast of Townsville and 590 kilometres northeast of Mackay.

Movement: west southwest at 7 kilometres per hour.

A tropical low (05U) is developing slowly in the central Coral Sea and is expected to become a tropical cyclone later Wednesday. This system is forecast to track southwest towards the Queensland coast. The system is likely to cross the Queensland coast Thursday night between Cardwell and Bowen as a Category 2 system.

In the longer term, the system is likely to track inland and south as a tropical low bringing heavy to intense rain to parts of central, western and southern Queensland.