Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Tropical Cyclone Advice For Western Australia
Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre
Media: Transmitters serving the area between De Grey and Roebourne are requested to USE the Standard Emergency Warning Signal before broadcasting the following warning.
TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST
TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 42
Issued at 01:01 PM WST on Friday 14 February 2025
Headline:
Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia made landfall at 12:30pm near De Grey River mouth northeast of Port Hedland. Port Hedland to avoid the very destructive core of the cyclone.
Areas Affected:
Warning zone: Wallal Downs to Whim Creek, including Port Hedland, and extending inland to Marble Bar, Nullagine, Tom Price and Paraburdoo .
Watch zone: None.
Cancelled zone: None.
Details of Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia 18U at 1:00 pm AWST:
Intensity: Category 4, sustained winds near the centre of 195 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 270 kilometres per hour.
Location: within 20 kilometres of 20.1 degrees South 119.1 degrees East, estimated to be 55 kilometres east northeast of Port Hedland and 140 kilometres north northwest of Marble Bar.
Movement: southeast at 14 kilometres per hour.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia (category 4) made landfall at 12:30pm near De Grey River mouth northeast of Port Hedland. Zelia will now take a general southerly track overland and weaken. Intense rainfall is expected near and to the east of the centre of the cyclone as it crosses the coast.
Hazards:
VERY DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS of up to 270 kilometres per hour are likely within 30 kilometres of the centre of the cyclone but Port Hedland lies outside this region. Wind gusts near the centre will reduce this afternoon and tonight. DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS of up to 160 kilometres per hour are likely in coastal areas between Port Hedland and Pardoo this afternoon extending to inland areas near the track tonight. Gales with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 120 kilometres per hour are occurring on the coast between Pardoo and Whim Creek, including Port Hedland. DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 120 kilometres per hour should also extend to inland areas, possibly including Marble Bar, Nullagine, or Tom Price and Paraburdoo, on Saturday morning. HEAVY to LOCALLY INTENSE RAINFALL which may lead to FLASH FLOODING is likely today across coastal and adjacent inland areas between Wallal Downs and Whim Creek, extending inland to Nullagine and Tom Price by early Saturday. Flood Watches and Warnings are also current for catchments in the Pilbara, western Kimberley and northern Gascoyne. Go to www.bom.gov.au/wa/warnings for further details. There is no longer a risk of a storm tide at Port Hedland. Residents between De Grey and Wallal Downs are specifically warned of the potential of a DANGEROUS STORM TIDE in the next few hours. Tides are likely to rise significantly above the normal high tide mark with damaging waves and dangerous flooding of some low-lying areas close to the shoreline.
Recommended Action:
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
Forecast
Port Hedland (20.3142°S, 118.5779°E, 3m AMSL) set as my default location ›
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7 day forecast
Today: Cloudy. Very high chance of rain in the E, medium chance elsewhere. The chance of a thunderstorm, possibly severe. Heavy to intense rainfall, flash flooding and very destructive wind gusts exceeding 170 km/h expected with movement and development of Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia. Daytime maximum temperatures 24 to 39.
Forecast for Port Hedland (20.3142°S, 118.5779°E, 3m AMSL) Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Summary Minimum 24° 23° 23° 25° 24° 25° 25° Maximum 27° 32° 32° 33° 32° 33° 36° Chance of rain 90% 70% 40% 20% 5% 5% 10% Likely amount > 80mm 1-5mm < 1mm < 1mm < 1mm < 1mm < 1mm UV index Extreme Extreme Extreme Extreme Extreme Extreme Extreme Fire Danger Rating High High No Rating No Rating - - - Frost risk Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil 9am 3pm 9am 3pm 9am 3pm 9am 3pm 9am 3pm 9am 3pm 9am 3pm Wind speed 59
(km/h)78
(km/h)29
(km/h)33
(km/h)16
(km/h)22
(km/h)10
(km/h)18
(km/h)9
(km/h)17
(km/h)15
(km/h)16
(km/h)15
(km/h)14
(km/h)Wind direction SE W NW NNW W NW WSW NNW SW NNW SW NW SW WNW Relative humidity 100% 94% 72% 70% 72% 64% 70% 59% 74% 60% 68% 54% 64% 52% Dew point 24°C 23°C 23°C 24°C 23°C 23°C 24°C 23°C 24°C 22°C 23°C 21°C 23°C 23°C -
Sunrise and sunset times
Sunrise / Sunset for Port Hedland (20.3142°S, 118.5779°E, 3m AMSL) First light Sunrise Sunset Last light Moon rise Moon set Moon phase Last quarter New moon First quarter Full moon 5:33am WST 5:56am WST 6:43pm WST 7:06pm WST 7:52pm WST 7:09am WST Waning gibbous
Last quarter Feb 21 New moon Feb 28 First quarter Mar 07 Full moon Mar 14 -
Warnings
- Tropical Cyclone Warning for Wallal Downs to Whim Creek, inc Port Hedland, extending to Marble Bar, Nullagine, Tom Price and Paraburdoo
- Flood Watch For The Onslow Coast, Fortescue, Ashburton, Gascoyne, De Grey Rivers And Parts Of Sandy Desert Catchments
- Flood Warning For The Pilbara Coastal Rivers
- Moderate Flood Warning For The De Grey River Catchment
- Hurricane Force Wind Warning Pilbara E. Strong Wind Warning W Kimberley, Ningaloo, Gascoyne, Geraldton, Bunbury Geographe & Leeuwin coasts
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Temperature for next 7 days
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Rain for next 7 days