Tropical cyclone expected to intensify

09 Apr 2021 / North West Australia, Australia

Tropical Cyclone Seroja expected to bring dangerous weather conditions to the west coast of Australia during Sunday or Monday (11 or 12 April).

At 8:00 am AWST, it was a Category 1 system with sustained winds near the centre of 75km per hour and wind gusts to 100km per hour. It was located within 45 kilometres of 19.0 deg. South, 110.0 deg. East, 540km northwest of Exmouth and 760km north northwest of Carnarvon, and moving southwest at 18km per hour.

Tropical Cyclone Seroja is forecast to gradually intensify as it tracks to the southwest over open waters today and then to the south on Saturday. On Sunday, Seroja is expected to turn to the southeast and accelerate towards the west coast before making landfall late Sunday or early Monday between Carnarvon and Jurien Bay.

Gales with gusts in excess of 90km per hour are likely to develop in an area between Coral Bay and Lancelin during Sunday afternoon and evening. Gales will extend inland into the Wheatbelt and southern Goldfields during Monday. Destructive winds with gusts in excess of 125km per hour are forecast to occur closer to the centre of Seroja as it moves across the coast.

Heavy to intense rainfall and flash flooding are likely close to the track of Seroja during Sunday and Monday. Abnormally high tides could cause minor flooding at the coast between Coral Bay and Lancelin, increasing to be serious flooding in the Denham and Shark Bay region.

The ports of Dampier, Port Walcott, Varanus Island, Barrow Island, Onslow and Cape Preston are all at Cyclone Alert Stage 1 – Monitor. The Port of Carnarvon is declared at ‘Prepare’ stage.

For information about operations in Australia, contact GAC Australia at [email protected]

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