Forecast

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

Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology, Western Australia
This Flood Watch provides early advice of possible flooding within the specified catchments.

Flood Watch For The Onslow Coast, Fortescue, Ashburton, Gascoyne, De Grey Rivers And Parts Of Sandy Desert Catchments
Issued at 11:08 AM WST on Friday 14 February 2025
Flood Watch Number: 8
"Re-issued to add the lower parts of the De Grey River catchment to Flood Watch area"
HEAVY TO LOCALLY INTENSE RAINFALL ASSOCIATED WITH SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE ZELIA IS EXPECTED TO CAUSE RAPID RIVER LEVEL RISES AND WIDESPREAD AREAS OF FLOODING FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON

Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia is expected to make landfall just east of Port Hedland Friday afternoon. Heavy rainfall is expected along the coast and adjacent inland areas during Friday. Rainfall will become intense near and to the east of the centre of the cyclone as it crosses the coast. This rainfall will cause rapid river level rises and widespread flooding across the flood watch area.
A Tropical Cyclone Advice is current for Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia.
Flood warning are also current for the De Grey River and Pilbara Coastal Rivers catchments.
Catchments across the Flood Watch area, particularly towards the coast, have become wet with recent rainfall.
Widespread heavy to locally intense rainfall is forecast during Friday across coastal and adjacent inland areas, extending to further inland in the the Flood Watch area during the weekend.
The areas of heaviest rainfall will be dependent of the track of Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia.
Forecast rainfall is expected to result in widespread areas of flooding and rapid river and stream level rises across the Flood Watch area. Areas of flooding may adversely affect road conditions and some communities may become isolated. Significant disruption of transportation network and extensive road closures are possible.

Catchments likely to be affected include:
De Grey River
Fortescue River
Onslow Coast
Ashburton River
Gascoyne River
Sandy Desert

This flood watch is available by dialling 1300 659 213. For more information on the Flood Watch Service visit http://www.bom.gov.au/water/floods/floodWarningServices.shtml

Flood Safety Advice:
Current river levels are available from Department of Water and Environmental Regulation at www.water.wa.gov.au/maps-and-data/monitoring/river-level-monitoring
DFES advises people and communities to be aware that flooding is possible and be prepared to relocate equipment and livestock. Watch water levels. Travellers need to be aware that road conditions may be adversely affected and travel plans may need to be reconsidered. Do not drive into water of unknown depth and velocity.
Community information is available from DFES at www.emergency.wa.gov.au/}

Next issue:
The next Flood Watch will be issued by 11:00 am WST on Saturday 15 February 2025.