Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle has made landfall in far north Queensland, crossing the Cape York Peninsula coast between Lockhart River and Coen as a category 4 system.

The eye of Cyclone Narelle started crossing the Qld coast at around 6am AEST on Friday, with radar imagery clearly showing the centre of the powerful tropical cyclone making landfall.

At 7am AEST on Friday, as Narelle was crossing the coast, sustained wind speeds near its core were estimated to be around 195 km/h, with gusts reaching around 270 km/h. This is near the top end of a category 4 tropical cyclone. If sustained wind speeds were 200 km/h or higher, it would be rated as a category 5 system.

This is the first category 4 tropical cyclone to hit Qld since Trevor in 2019, and the state’s strongest landfalling cyclone since Marcia in 2015.

Prior to reaching the coast, Narelle had reached category 5 strength while moving over the Coral Sea towards Qld. Late on Thursday, the system was producing sustained wind speeds of 220 km/h and gusts of 315 km/h, making it the strongest tropical cyclone in Australia’s Eastern Region since Ingrid in 2005.

Impacts from Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle

A high-end category 4 tropical cyclone making landfall is a dangerous weather event. Impacts from this system’s coastal crossing will include very destructive wind gusts, heavy rainfall, flash flooding, large waves, a storm surge and coastal inundation.

A weather station at Lockhart River Airport, which is about 50 km north of Narelle’s eye, recorded wind gusts of 115 km/h just before 9:00 am on Friday. This weather station also received 108 mm of rain between 5:00 pm AEST on Thursday and 9:00 am on Friday.

Further inland, a rain gauge at Wenlock River collected 208 mm of rain between 6:00 pm Thursday and 9:00 am on Friday.

Image: Enhanced infrared satellite images showing Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle making landfall on Friday, March 20, 2026. Source: Weatherzone.

Where will Narelle go next?

Tropical Cyclone Narelle will continue moving towards the west on Friday, causing heavy rain and powerful winds to continue over the Cape York Peninsula. While Narelle will weaken as it crosses the peninsula, it is expected to still be a tropical cyclone, most likely category 2, when it emerges off the west coast in the evening.

Cyclone Narelle should then intensify as it tracks over the warm Gulf of Carpentaria on Friday night into Saturday. At this stage, the system is expected to impact Groote Eylandt and the Northern Territory’s eastern Top End from Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning, most likely making another landfall as a category 3 severe tropical cyclone.

Narelle should then weaken to a tropical low as it carries heavy rain over the Top End and into Western Australia's Kimberley district. Forecast models suggest the system will emerge off the Kimberley coast early to mid-next week, which may allow it to re-intensify into a tropical cyclone to the north of WA.