Source: Bureau of Meteorology

TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 68
Issued at 8:51 am WST on Thursday 26 March 2026

Headline:
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle steadily intensifying. Severe impacts possible for the west Pilbara and Gascoyne coasts .

Areas Affected:
Warning Zone
Pardoo Roadhouse to Carnarvon, including Port Hedland, Karratha, Onslow, Exmouth, and Coral Bay, and extending inland to Pannawonica.

Watch Zone
South of Carnarvon to Jurien Bay, including Denham and Geraldton, and extending inland to Gascoyne Junction, Murchison, Morawa and Yalgoo.

Cancelled Zone
None.

Details of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle 34U at 8:00 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 35 kilometres of 18.8 degrees South 116.2 degrees East, estimated to be 225 kilometres north northwest of Karratha and 410 kilometres north northeast of Exmouth.

Movement: west southwest at 17 kilometres per hour.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is a category 3 tropical cyclone and is expected to continue to strengthen.

Narelle is moving west southwest, roughly parallel to the Pilbara coast. Narelle is larger than usual and although the cyclone is located well north of the Pilbara, gales extend to the coast.

On Friday, Narelle will turn towards the south, likely passing close to the North West Cape as a category 4 cyclone.

There is the potential for a severe impact on the far western Pilbara coast from later Thursday, extending south to Denham during Friday.

On Saturday Narelle is expected to be weakening as it moves quickly to the south southeast 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:
VERY DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS up to 275 km/h may develop between Exmouth and Onslow later on Thursday as Narelle moves closer to the North West Cape, and then extend down the west coast to Cape Cuvier during Friday morning. Carnarvon could see wind gusts up to 220 km/h during Friday, and wind gusts up to 195 km/h could extend to Denham late Friday or early Saturday.

DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS in excess of 125 km/h may occur on the Pilbara coast near Karratha during Thursday morning, extending west to Exmouth during Thursday, and south to Carnarvon and then to Denham and the Overlander Roadhouse during Friday.

GALES with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 120 km/h are occurring just offshore and will occasionally extend to the near coastal parts between Pardoo Roadhouse and Mardie, including Port Hedland and Karratha. Gales will develop west to Exmouth during Thursday and extend further south to Kalbarri and inland to the Overlander Roadhouse and possibly to Murchison during Friday. Gales may extend south to Jurien Bay and inland to Morawa during Saturday morning.

HEAVY RAINFALL which may lead to FLASH FLOODING is possible in western parts of the Pilbara and Gascoyne as Narelle moves past.

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

Tides will be higher than normal between Port Hedland and Onslow. LARGE WAVES may produce MINOR FLOODING of low-lying coastal areas.

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