Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Tropical Cyclone Advice
Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre
Media: The Standard Emergency Warning Signal should NOT be used with this warning.
PRIORITY
TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 3
Issued at 10:41 PM EST on Wednesday 04 March 2026
Headline:
Moderate chance of a tropical cyclone off the North Tropical Coast, impacts expected on Friday.
Areas Affected:
Warning zone: None.
Watch zone: Cooktown to Palm Island, including Port Douglas, Cairns, Innisfail and Palm Island.
Cancelled zone: None.
Details of Tropical Low 29U at 10:00 pm AEST:
Intensity: Tropical Low, sustained winds near the centre of 55 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 85 kilometres per hour.
Location: within 35 kilometres of 15.0 degrees South 150.3 degrees East, estimated to be 530 kilometres east northeast of Cairns and 580 kilometres northeast of Cardwell.
Movement: south southwest at 13 kilometres per hour.
Tropical Low 29U lies in the Coral Sea to the north of Willis Island. The low has been moving erratically but is expected to turn to the west-southwest on Thursday, taking it towards the North Tropical Coast.
There is a moderate chance of Tropical Low 29U developing into a tropical cyclone before it makes landfall on the North Tropical Coast during Friday.
Hazards:
GALES with wind gusts to 100 km/h are forecast to develop over exposed coastal areas between Port Douglas and Cardwell, including Cairns, from Friday morning. Gales may extend north to Cooktown during Friday morning if the tropical low tracks further north than forecast.
GALES with wind gusts to 100 km/h may extend further south to coastal areas between Cardwell and Palm Island on Friday, if the tropical low tracks south of the forecast track.
HEAVY RAINFALL, which may lead to FLASH FLOODING, is forecast to develop about coastal and adjacent inland areas north of Ingham on Thursday. Heavy rainfall may extend south to Palm Island and adjacent mainland areas on Friday.
Tides are likely to be higher than normal between Port Douglas and Ingham but are not expected to exceed the highest tide of the year.
A Flood Watch is current for northern and far northern catchments.
Recommended Action:
- People between Cooktown and Palm Island, including Port Douglas, Cairns and Innisfail, stay informed by checking your local government s Disaster Dashboards for the latest updates.
- For cyclone preparedness and safety advice, visit the Get Ready Queensland website www.getready.qld.gov.au
- For non-life threatening emergency assistance contact State Emergency Services (SES) online via the SES Assistance QLD App (Apple, Android), online 132500.qld.gov.au, or call 132 500 from anywhere in Queensland.
Cyclone advices and DFES Alerts are available by dialling 13 DFES (13 3337)
A map showing the track of the cyclone is available at:
http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone
Forecast
Mccutcheon (17.7169°S, 146.0497°E, 0m AMSL) set as my default location ›
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7 day forecast
Today: Cloudy. Very high chance of rain. The chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon and evening, possibly severe with damaging winds and heavy rain which may lead to flash flooding. Winds S/SE 15 to 25 km/h. Damaging wind gusts to 100 km/h possible depending on movement and development of Tropical Low. Overnight temperatures falling to between 19 and 24 with daytime temperatures reaching the mid to high 20s.
Forecast for Mccutcheon (17.7169°S, 146.0497°E, 0m AMSL) Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Summary
Minimum 24° 24° 24° 25° 25° 24° 25° Maximum 29° 29° 33° 33° 34° 32° 32° Chance of rain 90% 90% 70% 70% 70% 90% 90% Likely amount 20-40mm 10-20mm 5-10mm 1-5mm 5-10mm 10-20mm 5-10mm UV index Extreme Extreme Extreme Extreme Extreme Extreme Extreme Fire Danger Rating No Rating No Rating No Rating No Rating - - - Frost risk Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil 9am 3pm 9am 3pm 9am 3pm 9am 3pm 9am 3pm 9am 3pm 9am 3pm Wind speed 10
(km/h)18
(km/h)19
(km/h)13
(km/h)3
(km/h)13
(km/h)4
(km/h)13
(km/h)5
(km/h)8
(km/h)2
(km/h)7
(km/h)2
(km/h)9
(km/h)Wind direction SSW S SSW E N NNE NNW NE NNW NE SW E S ESE Relative humidity 88% 82% 90% 82% 83% 72% 81% 69% 77% 67% 82% 75% 84% 72% Dew point 24°C 24°C 25°C 25°C 25°C 26°C 25°C 25°C 26°C 26°C 25°C 25°C 25°C 25°C -
Sunrise and sunset times
Sunrise / Sunset for Mccutcheon (17.7169°S, 146.0497°E, 0m AMSL) First light Sunrise Sunset Last light Moon rise Moon set Moon phase Last quarter New moon First quarter Full moon 5:54am EST 6:16am EST 6:39pm EST 7:01pm EST 7:42pm EST 7:30am EST
Waning gibbous
Last quarter Mar 11 New moon Mar 19 First quarter Mar 26 Full moon Apr 02 -
Warnings
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Temperature for next 7 days
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Rain for next 7 days