Forecast

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 2
Issued at 04:41 PM EST on Wednesday 04 March 2026

Headline:
Moderate chance of a tropical cyclone developing off the North Tropical Coast.

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 4:00 pm AEST:
Intensity: Tropical Low, sustained winds near the centre of 65 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 95 kilometres per hour.
Location: within 35 kilometres of 14.4 degrees South 150.7 degrees East, estimated to be 600 kilometres east northeast of Cairns and 660 kilometres northeast of Cardwell.
Movement: slow moving.
Tropical Low 29U lies in the Coral Sea to the north of Willis Island. The low has been slow moving but is expected to turn 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 overnight Thursday or on Friday morning. Gales may extend north to Cooktown during Friday morning, if 29U 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 29U tracks slightly 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 inland 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

Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Queensland

Marine Wind Warning Summary for Queensland

Issued at 03:00 PM EST on Wednesday 04 March 2026
for the period until midnight EST Thursday 05 March 2026

Wind Warnings for Wednesday 04 March
Strong Wind Warning for the following areas:
Cairns Coast, Townsville Coast and Mackay Coast

Wind Warnings for Thursday 05 March
Gale Warning for the following areas:
Cooktown Coast and Cairns Coast
Strong Wind Warning for the following areas:
Townsville Coast and Mackay Coast

The next marine wind warning summary will be issued by 9:00 pm EST Wednesday.
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Check the latest Coastal Waters Forecast or Local
Waters Forecast at http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/forecasts/map.shtml for information on wind,
wave and weather conditions for these coastal zones.
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