Latest update on the Tropical Low. I posted 5 hours ago and the Low was 690 kilometres east northeast of Townsville. Since then it has moved 20 kilometres closer. It is now 670 kilometres east northeast of Townsville




TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST
TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 13
Issued at 10:47 am EST on Wednesday 24 January 2024
Headline:
Tropical cyclone impacts likely to begin for coastal and island communities tonight and Thursday morning.

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

Watch Zone
Innisfail to Ayr, including Townsville and extending inland to Charters Towers.

Cancelled Zone
None.

Details of Tropical Low at 10:00 am AEST:
Intensity: Tropical Low, sustained winds near the centre of 75 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 100 kilometres per hour.

Location: within 45 kilometres of 17.1 degrees South 152.7 degrees East, estimated to be 670 kilometres east northeast of Townsville and 580 kilometres northeast of Mackay.

Movement: slow moving.

A tropical low (05U) is developing slowly in the central Coral Sea and is expected to become a tropical cyclone tonight as it tracks west 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 further inland as a tropical low, bringing heavy to intense rain to parts of central and western Queensland.