Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology Tropical Cyclone Advice Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre Media: The Standard Emergency Warning Signal should NOT be used with this warning. PRIORITY TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 4 Issued at 04:54 AM EST on Wednesday 18 March 2026 Headline: Tropical Cyclone Narelle continues to intensify in the northern Coral Sea, and is expected to bring severe impacts to Far North Queensland. Areas Affected: Warning zone: None. Watch zone: Lockhart River to Port Douglas, and adjacent inland areas. Cancelled zone: None. Details of Tropical Cyclone Narelle 34U at 4:00 am AEST: Intensity: Category 2, sustained winds near the centre of 110 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 155 kilometres per hour. Location: within 35 kilometres of 12.2 degrees South 154.4 degrees East, estimated to be 660 kilometres northeast of Willis Island and 1050 kilometres east northeast of Cooktown. Movement: west northwest at 18 kilometres per hour. Tropical Cyclone Narelle (34U) is currently at category 2 intensity in the northern Coral Sea. Narelle is expected to move steadily to the west and approach the far northeast Queensland coast between Lockhart River and Port Douglas. A severe impact is likely late in the week. Hazards: VERY DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS in excess of 200 km/h are possible near the centre of Tropical Cyclone Narelle as it crosses the coast. DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS to 155 km/hr are possible between Coen and Cooktown from Thursday night. Gales with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 120 km/hr are possible between Cape Melville and Port Douglas from early Thursday morning. Gales with DAMAGING WIND GUSTS to 120 km/hr are also possible between Lockhart River and Cape Melville from Thursday afternoon. HEAVY RAINFALL which may lead to FLASH FLOODING is possible between Cape Melville and Port Douglas from Thursday evening, extending inland during Friday. LOCALLY INTENSE RAINFALL is possible between Lockhart River and Cape Melville, and also inland areas west of Coen, from Friday. Tides will be higher than normal between Coen and Port Douglas. LARGE WAVES may produce MINOR FLOODING of low-lying coastal areas. There is a small risk that tides may approach the highest tide of the year during Friday. Tides in Princess Charlotte Bay may rise significantly above the normal high tide, DAMAGING WAVES and DANGEROUS FLOODING is possible for low-lying coastal areas. Recommended Action: - Stay informed by checking your local government s Disaster Dashboards for the latest updates. - For cyclone preparedness and safety advice, visit the Get Ready Queensland website www.getready.qld.gov.au - For non-life threatening emergency assistance contact State Emergency Services (SES) online via the SES Assistance QLD App, Apple , Android, online www.132500.qld.gov.au, or call 132 500 from anywhere in Queensland. Cyclone advices and DFES Alerts are available by dialling 13 DFES (13 3337) A map showing the track of the cyclone is available at: http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone