Source: Bureau of Meteorology

TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 89

Issued at 10:12 am WST on Friday 27 March 2026
Headline:

Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle, category 3, is currently impacting the west Pilbara coast and northern Gascoyne coast, extending south during today.
Areas Affected:
Warning Zone

Mardie to Jurien Bay, including Onslow, Exmouth, Coral Bay, Carnarvon, Denham and Geraldton, and extending inland to Glen Florrie, Murchison and Dalwallinu.
Watch Zone

None.
Cancelled Zone

None.
Details of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle 34U at 10:00 am AWST:

Intensity: Category 3, sustained winds near the centre of 155 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 220 kilometres per hour.

Location: within 30 kilometres of 22.6 degrees South 113.5 degrees East, estimated to be 90 kilometres southwest of Exmouth and 260 kilometres north of Carnarvon.

Movement: south southwest at 20 kilometres per hour.

Narelle has started to weaken and is now category 3. It is moving south and passing just west of the North West Cape, taking it further away from Exmouth. Severe impacts are expected from the western Pilbara coast to the northern Gascoyne coast this morning, and then extending south to Carnarvon and possibly Denham during today.

On Saturday, Narelle is expected to be weakening as it moves quickly to the south southeast over land, with impacts extending to the Central West and then further inland and south across the South West Land Division. During Saturday the strongest winds are expected to be on the eastern side of the system.
Hazards:

The VERY DESTRUCTIVE CORE of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle with extreme wind gusts up to 220 km/h is impacting the North West Cape and south to Coral Bay, and is moving south to cross the coast between Coral Bay and Cape Cuvier this afternoon.

VERY DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS up to 200 km/hr are occurring over the North West Cape, including Exmouth and south along the west coast to south Coral Bay, extending to Cape Cuvier early this afternoon. Carnarvon could see wind gusts up to 190 km/h this afternoon, and wind gusts up to 180 km/h could possibly extend to Denham late Friday or early Saturday.

DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS in excess of 125 km/h are occurring along the west Pilbara coast between Onslow and Minilya Roadhouse, including Exmouth. DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS in excess of 125 km/h are expected to extend south to Carnarvon and then to Denham during this morning and afternoon, and may extend to Kalbarri and inland parts later today and possibly as far south as Morawa Saturday morning.

GALES with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 120 km/h are occurring in coastal areas between Mardie and Cape Curvier and are possible over adjacent inland areas to Glen Florrie. Gales will extend south to Carnarvon and Denham later this morning and further south to Kalbarri and inland, possibly as far east as Murchison, during today. Gales may extend south to Jurien Bay and inland to Dalwallinu during Saturday morning.

A Severe Weather Warning is also current for damaging to locally destructive winds and heavy rainfall across much of southwest WA east of Perth and northeast of Albany.

HEAVY RAINFALL which may lead to FLASH FLOODING is possible over western parts of the Pilbara, Gascoyne and Central West as Narelle moves past. Areas of INTENSE RAINFALL that may lead to SEVERE FLASH FLOODING are likely to develop about the western Pilbara west of about Onslow this morning, before extending further south into the northwestern Gascoyne later this morning.

Coastal residents between Onslow and Denham are specifically warned of a VERY DANGEROUS STORM TIDE as the cyclone moves south down the Gascoyne coast. Tides will rise significantly above the normal high tide, with DAMAGING WAVES and VERY DANGEROUS FLOODING.

Tides between Cape Preston and Onslow are likely to rise above the normal high tide mark with LARGE WAVES and MINOR FLOODING of low-lying coastal areas.
Recommended Action:

DFES advises:

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.

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