Forecast

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 02:16 AM WST on Friday 27 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 during Friday, reaching Catastrophic about the Ashburton Coast and Exmouth Gulf Coast.

For the rest of 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.
No further warnings will be issued for this event, but the situation will continue to be monitored and further warnings issued if necessary.

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

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

TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST

TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 81
Issued at 02:02 AM WST on Friday 27 March 2026

Headline:
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle, category 4, is currently impacting the west Pilbara coast with severe impacts extending to the Gascoyne coast Friday morning.

Areas Affected:
Warning zone: Whim Creek to Jurien Bay, including Karratha, Onslow, Exmouth, Coral Bay, Carnarvon, Denham and Geraldton, and extending inland to Pannawonica, Murchison and Dalwallinu.

Watch zone: None.

Cancelled zone: None.

Details of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle 34U at 2:00 am AWST:
Intensity: Category 4, sustained winds near the centre of 185 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 260 kilometres per hour.
Location: within 30 kilometres of 21.1 degrees South 114.2 degrees East, estimated to be 115 kilometres west northwest of Onslow and 95 kilometres north of Exmouth.
Movement: southwest at 18 kilometres per hour.
Narelle is located north of Exmouth and is turning to the south. It is expect to pass close to the North West Cape as a category 4 cyclone this morning. Severe impacts are expected from the western Pilbara coast to the Gascoyne coast early this morning, and then extending south to Carnarvon and Denham during today.
Narelle is larger than usual and gales may still occur over the central Pilbara coast. A Severe Weather Warning is also current for damaging wind gusts east of Whim Creek and for inland parts of the Pilbara.
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 are occurring over coastal parts between Exmouth and Onslow and are expected to extend south to Coral Bay early this morning as Narelle moves over the North West Cape, before extending down the west coast to Cape Cuvier during this morning. Carnarvon could see wind gusts up to 200 km/h this afternoon, 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 west Pilbara coast between east of Onslow and the North West Cape, including Exmouth and will extend south along the Ningaloo coast early this morning. DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS in excess of 125 km/h are expected to extend south to Carnarvon and then to Denham during this morning and afternoon, and may extend to Kalbarri and inland parts later today and possibly as far south as Morawa Saturday morning.
GALES with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 120 km/h are occurring in coastal areas between Whim Creek and Coral Bay, including Exmouth and are possible over adjacent inland areas to Pannawonica. Gales will extend south Carnarvon and Denham this morning and further south to Kalbarri and inland, possibly as far east as Murchison, during today. 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 this 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