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.

TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST

TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 61
Issued at 11:56 AM WST on Wednesday 25 March 2026

Headline:
Tropical Cyclone Narelle, now Category 2 and expected to be severe overnight.

Areas Affected:
Warning zone: Bidyadanga to Exmouth, including Port Hedland, Karratha and Onslow, and extending inland to Pannawonica and Millstream.

Watch zone: Ningaloo to Overlander Roadhouse, including Coral Bay, Carnarvon and Denham, and extending inland to Gascoyne Junction.

Cancelled zone: Cape Leveque to south of Beagle Bay

Details of Tropical Cyclone Narelle 34U at 11:00 am AWST:
Intensity: Category 2, sustained winds near the centre of 95 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 130 kilometres per hour.
Location: within 35 kilometres of 17.5 degrees South 119.6 degrees East, estimated to be 330 kilometres north northeast of Port Hedland and 460 kilometres northeast of Karratha.
Movement: west southwest at 23 kilometres per hour.
Tropical Cyclone Narelle is now a Category 2 tropical cyclone and is expected to continue to intensify to reach severe (category 3) intensity overnight tonight.
Narelle is moving west southwest, roughly parallel to the Pilbara coast. Narelle is larger than usual and although the cyclone is located well north of the Pilbara, gales are likely to extend to the coast during today.
Later Friday, Narelle will turn towards the south, likely passing close to the North West Cape as a Category 4 system.
There is the potential for a severe impact on the far western Pilbara coast late Thursday, extending south to Denham during Friday.
On Saturday Narelle is expected to move to the south southeast with impacts extending to the Central West and then further inland and south across the South West Land Division.

Hazards:
VERY DESTRUCTIVE GUSTS up to 260 km/h may develop west of Onslow later on Thursday as Narelle moves closer to the NW Cape, and possibly extending south to Carnarvon during Friday.
DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS in excess of 125 km/h may develop on the Pilbara coast near Karratha late Wednesday or early Thursday, extending to Exmouth during Thursday, and to Carnarvon by late Thursday and south to Denham during Friday.
GALES with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 100 km/h are possible between Bidyadanga and Port Hedland, extending west to Dampier later today . GALES with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 120 km/h may develop west to Exmouth during Thursday and extend further south to Overlander Roadhouse and inland to Gascoyne Junction during Friday.
Coastal residents between Exmouth and Denham are specifically warned of a DANGEROUS STORM TIDE as the cyclone moves south down the Gascoyne coast. Tides are likely to rise significantly above the normal high tide, with DAMAGING WAVES and DANGEROUS FLOODING.
Tides will be higher than normal between Port Hedland and North West Cape. LARGE WAVES may produce MINOR FLOODING of low-lying coastal areas.

Recommended Action:
DFES advises:
Ensure you know what to do in a cyclone. For the latest DFES community alerts and warnings visit www.emergency.wa.gov.au or download the Emergency WA app.

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
Western Australia

Marine Wind Warning Summary for Western Australia

Issued at 08:33 AM WST on Wednesday 25 March 2026
for the period until midnight WST Thursday 26 March 2026

Wind Warnings for Wednesday 25 March
Gale Warning for the following areas:
West Kimberley Coast, Pilbara Coast East and Pilbara Coast West
Strong Wind Warning for the following areas:
Ningaloo Coast, Gascoyne Coast, Geraldton Coast, Lancelin Coast, Perth Coast, Bunbury Geographe Coast and Leeuwin Coast

Wind Warnings for Thursday 26 March
Storm Force Wind Warning for the following areas:
Pilbara Coast West and Ningaloo Coast
Gale Warning for the following areas:
Pilbara Coast East
Strong Wind Warning for the following areas:
West Kimberley Coast, Gascoyne Coast, Lancelin Coast, Perth Coast, Bunbury Geographe Coast, Leeuwin Coast, Albany Coast and Esperance Coast

The next marine wind warning summary will be issued by 1:01 pm WST Wednesday.
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Check the latest Coastal Waters Forecast or Local
Waters Forecast at http://www.bom.gov.au/wa/forecasts/map.shtml for information on wind,
wave and weather conditions for these coastal zones.
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