Forecasters are becoming more confident Tropical Cyclone Alfred will remain offshore, but warn the situation could change next week.
And despite landfall looking less likely, the Gold Coast will feel the impact of Alfred from this weekend with a coastal hazard warning issued
As at 4am on Friday, Alfred had weakened back to a category three after strengthening to a category four on Thursday.
It is sitting about 750km east northeast of Mackay and 770km northeast of Rockhampton.
The BOM is forecasting Alfred to continue to move to the south through the Coral Sea on Friday before weakening and taking a slight turn to the south southwest towards Queensland on Saturday.
It is then expected to turn back to the southeast and away from the coast on Sunday.
IMAGE: BOM
Senior Meteorologist Jonathon How says Alfred will still make its presence felt over the next few days.
“Although Severe Tropical Cyclone Alfred remains well offshore, it is generating hazardous coastal conditions for areas south of around Townsville. So today we do have a number of warnings current.”
Strong wind warnings are in place for areas between Townsville and K’gari. Hazardous surf warnings are also in place for the Capricornia and K’gari coasts.
“What this means is that first it will be very windy along the foreshore and the beach and out into the water and we’re also seeing large waves to two-and-a-half metres in addition to an eastern swell of up to three metres offshore.
“These can create dangerous conditions for swimming, rock fishing and boating.
“As Alfred is forecast to be slow moving, we are expecting hazardous coastal conditions to persist into the weekend.”
A coastal hazard warning has now been issued for the Gold Coast.
Alfred is whipping up large and powerful swells which are expected to start impacting the Gold Coast from Saturday.
That will combine with spring tides leading to some abnormally high tides and potentially severe beach erosion.
The Bureau says waters levels on the high tide could exceed the highest tide of the year by around half a metre which could result in minor flooding of foreshore areas.
The large waves are expected to stick around for several days
