Tropical Cyclone Watch for Cooktown to Lucinda, including Port Douglas, Cairns, Innisfail and Palm Island
4 MARCH 2026 10:53 EST
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 1
Issued at 10:53 AM 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 Lucinda, including Port Douglas, Cairns, Innisfail and Palm Island.
Cancelled zone: None.
Details of Tropical Low 29U at 10:00 am AEST:
Intensity: Tropical Low, sustained winds near the centre of 65 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 95 kilometres per hour.
Location: within 55 kilometres of 14.1 degrees South 150.1 degrees East, estimated to be 560 kilometres northeast of Cairns and 640 kilometres northeast of Cardwell.
Movement: west northwest at 10 kilometres per hour.
Tropical Low 29U is developing in the Coral Sea, north of Willis Island. The low has been moving slowly northwest but is expected to turn southwest later today, taking it towards the North Tropical Coast.
There is a moderate chance of Tropical Low 29U developing into a tropical cyclone before making 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, from Thursday evening. These winds may extend north to Cooktown overnight Thursday, 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, 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
