Source: Bureau of Meteorology

TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 69
Issued at 11:52 am WST on Thursday 26 March 2026

Headline:
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle has strengthened to category 4. Severe impacts possible for the west Pilbara and Gascoyne coasts .

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

Watch Zone
South of Denham to Jurien Bay, including Kalbarri and Geraldton, and extending inland to Murchison, Yalgoo and Dalwallinu.

Cancelled Zone
Pardoo Roadhouse to east of Port Hedland.

Details of Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle 34U at 11:00 am AWST:
Intensity: Category 4, sustained winds near the centre of 165 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 230 kilometres per hour.

Location: within 20 kilometres of 19.1 degrees South 115.9 degrees East, estimated to be 210 kilometres north northwest of Karratha and 365 kilometres north northeast of Exmouth.

Movement: west southwest at 17 kilometres per hour.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is now a category 4 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 between Karratha and Mardie, extending west to Exmouth during Thursday afternoon, and south to Carnarvon and then to Denham and the Overlander Roadhouse during Friday. DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS in excess of 125 km/h may extend to Kalbarri and inland parts later Friday and possibly as far south as Morawa early Saturday morning.

GALES with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 120 km/h are occurring near the coast between west of Munda Station to Mardie, including Karratha. Periods of gales are possible east to Port Hedland during Thursday afternoon. Gales will develop west to Exmouth during Thursday afternoon 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 Dalwallinu 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. Areas of INTENSE RAINFALL that may lead to SEVERE FLASH FLOODING is likely to develop about the western Pilbara west of about Onslow overnight and Friday morning, before extending further south into the northwestern Gascoyne later Friday morning.

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.

Current Tropical Cyclones