Warnings

Tropical Cyclone Advice Sat 10 Jan 2026

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 6 
Issued at 01:46 AM EST on Saturday 10 January 2026

Headline: 
Tropical Low 12U is developing off the northeast Queensland coast, with impacts expected through the weekend.

Areas Affected: 
Warning zone: Port Douglas to Airlie Beach, including Cairns, Innisfail, Townsville and Bowen.

Watch zone: None.

Cancelled zone: None.

Details of Tropical Low 12U at 1:00 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 15.3 degrees South 148.0 degrees East, estimated to be 300 kilometres northeast of Cairns and 460 kilometres north northeast of Townsville.
 Movement: south southwest at 9 kilometres per hour.
 A tropical low (12U) is developing in the Coral Sea, west-northwest of Willis Island. It has begun moving south-southwest, and will move towards the North Tropical Coast today. It is forecast to cross the coast between Innisfail and Bowen, most likely early on Sunday.
 Tropical Low 12U is forecast to reach tropical cyclone intensity prior to reaching the coast. However, the heavy rainfall and damaging wind impacts are likely to be similar whether or not it becomes a tropical cyclone.

Hazards:
GALES with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 100 km/h may develop over exposed coastal areas and elevated terrain between Port Douglas and Tully, including Cairns, this morning if the system tracks further west than forecast.
 GALES with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 100 km/h are forecast to develop about coastal areas between Tully and Airlie Beach this afternoon or this evening, and persist until the system crosses the coast on Sunday morning.
 HEAVY RAINFALL which may lead to FLASH FLOODING is forecast to develop north of Townsville this morning, extending south to Airlie Beach as the day progresses. Locally INTENSE RAINFALL which may lead to DANGEROUS AND LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODING is possible between Tully and Airlie Beach later during Saturday.
 Tides are likely to be higher than normal between Port Douglas and Airlie Beach over the weekend, but should not exceed the highest tide of the year.
 A Severe Weather Warning is also current for heavy to locally intense rainfall and damaging winds about the northeast tropical Queensland coast. Flood Watches and Warnings are also current.

Recommended Action:
People between Port Douglas and Airlie Beach, including Cairns, Innisfail, Townsville, and Bowen, should take precautions and listen to the next advice at 5 am.
 - 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
 IF YOUR LIFE IS IN DANGER PHONE TRIPLE ZERO (000) IMMEDIATELY. 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