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 65
Issued at 11:49 PM WST on Wednesday 25 March 2026

Headline:
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle remains at category 3 strength. Potential severe impacts for the west Pilbara and Gascoyne coasts.

Areas Affected:
Warning zone: Pardoo Roadhouse to Cape Cuvier, including Port Hedland, Karratha, Onslow, Exmouth, and Coral Bay, and extending inland to Pannawonica.

Watch zone: South of Cape Cuvier to Dongara, including Carnarvon, Denham, and Geraldton, extending inland to Gascoyne Junction, Murchison, and Yalgoo.

Cancelled zone: None.

Details of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle 34U at 11:00 pm AWST:
Intensity: Category 3, sustained winds near the centre of 130 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 185 kilometres per hour.
Location: within 35 kilometres of 18.2 degrees South 117.5 degrees East, estimated to be 260 kilometres north northwest of Port Hedland and 290 kilometres north northeast of Karratha.
Movement: west southwest at 20 kilometres per hour.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is a category 3 tropical cyclone and is expected to continue to strengthen.
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 tonight.
On Friday, Narelle will turn towards the south, likely passing close to the North West Cape as a category 4 cyclone.
There is the potential for a severe impact on the far western Pilbara coast from late Thursday, 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.

Hazards:
VERY DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS up to 260 km/h may develop west of Onslow later on Thursday as Narelle moves closer to the North West Cape, and possibly extend south to Carnarvon during Friday. Wind gusts to 195 km/h may extend south to Denham later Friday.
DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS in excess of 125 km/h may develop on the Pilbara coast near Karratha early Thursday, extending west to Exmouth during Thursday, and south to Carnarvon and then to Denham and the Overlander Roadhouse during Friday.
GALES with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 100 km/h are possible between Pardoo Roadhouse and Dampier, including Port Hedland, tonight and Thursday morning. GALES with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 120 km/h may develop west to Exmouth during Thursday and extend further south to Kalbarri and inland to the Murchison Roadhouse during Friday, and to Geraldton early Saturday.
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