Forecast

Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Tropical Cyclone Advice
Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre

Media: Transmitters serving the area between Onslow and Exmouth are requested to USE the Standard Emergency Warning Signal before broadcasting the following warning.

TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST

TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 72
Issued at 04:58 PM WST on Thursday 26 March 2026

Headline:
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle, category 4, is currently impacting the west Pilbara coast with severe impacts expected along the Gascoyne coast later tonight.

Areas Affected:
Warning zone: Port Hedland to Northampton, including Karratha, Onslow, Exmouth, Coral Bay, Carnarvon and Denham, and extending inland to Pannawonica and Murchison.

Watch zone: South of Northampton to Jurien Bay, including Geraldton, and extending inland to Yalgoo and Dalwallinu.

Cancelled zone: None.

Details of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle 34U at 5:00 pm AWST:
Intensity: Category 4, sustained winds near the centre of 175 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 250 kilometres per hour.
Location: within 20 kilometres of 19.9 degrees South 115.1 degrees East, estimated to be 200 kilometres west northwest of Karratha and 245 kilometres north northeast of Exmouth.
Movement: southwest at 18 kilometres per hour.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle, category 4, is forecast to strengthen further this evening as it approaches the NW Cape.
Narelle is moving southwest, roughly parallel to the Pilbara coast. Narelle is larger than usual and although the cyclone is located well north of the Pilbara, gales and destructive winds are occurring over the coast.
Later tonight or early Friday, Narelle will turn towards the south, likely passing close to the North West Cape as a category 4 cyclone. Severe impacts will extend to the far western Pilbara coast and Gascoyne coast overnight, extending south to Denham during Friday.
On Saturday, Narelle is expected to be weakening as it moves quickly to the south southeast with impacts extending to the Central West and then further inland and south across the South West Land Division. During Saturday the strongest winds are expected to be on the eastern side of the system.

Hazards:
VERY DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS up to 275 km/h may develop between Exmouth and Onslow later this evening as Narelle moves closer to the North West Cape, and then extend down the west coast to Cape Cuvier during Friday morning. Carnarvon could see wind gusts up to 200 km/h during Friday, and wind gusts up to 180 km/h could extend to Denham late Friday or early Saturday.
DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS in excess of 125 km/h are occurring along the Pilbara coast between Mardie and Onslow, and are expected to extend west to Exmouth this evening, and south to Carnarvon and then to Denham and the Overlander Roadhouse during Friday. DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS in excess of 125 km/h may extend to Kalbarri and inland parts later Friday and possibly as far south as Morawa early Saturday morning.
GALES with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 120 km/h are occurring near the coast between west of Munda Station to west of Onslow, including Karratha. Gales will develop west to Exmouth this evening, and extend further south to Kalbarri and inland to the Overlander Roadhouse and possibly to Murchison during Friday. Gales may extend south to Jurien Bay and inland to Dalwallinu during Saturday morning.
HEAVY RAINFALL which may lead to FLASH FLOODING is possible in western parts of the Pilbara and Gascoyne as Narelle moves past. Areas of INTENSE RAINFALL that may lead to SEVERE FLASH FLOODING is likely to develop about the western Pilbara west of about Onslow overnight and Friday morning, before extending further south into the northwestern Gascoyne later Friday morning.
Coastal residents between Onslow 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 Onslow. 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

Fire Weather Warning

for Burrup, Ashburton Inland, Ashburton Coast, Exmouth Gulf Coast and Gascoyne Coast fire weather districts

Issued at 04:37 PM WST on Thursday 26 March 2026

Weather Situation
Strong and gusty northeast to southeast winds across the western Pilbara and the western Gascoyne, reaching hurricane force about the coast, as Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle passes near the NW Cape early Friday morning and down the Gascoyne coast during Friday. Winds will tend north to northwesterly to the north of the cyclone during Friday. These winds will drive enhanced fire dangers Thursday night and during Friday, reaching Catastrophic about the Ashburton Coast and Exmouth Gulf Coast.

For the rest of Thursday 26 March:
Catastrophic Fire Danger for the following areas:
Ashburton Coast and Exmouth Gulf Coast
Extreme Fire Danger for the following areas:
Burrup and Ashburton Inland

For Friday 27 March:
Catastrophic Fire Danger for the following areas:
Ashburton Coast and Exmouth Gulf Coast
Extreme Fire Danger for the following areas:
Burrup, Ashburton Inland and Gascoyne Coast

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services advises you to:
Action your Bushfire Survival Plan now.
Monitor the fire and weather situation through your local radio station, www.emergency.wa.gov.au and www.bom.gov.au.
Call 000 (Triple Zero) in an emergency.

For information on preparing for bushfires go to www.dfes.wa.gov.au.
The next warning will be issued by 5:00 am WST Friday.