South East Queensland is being warned to prepare for the aftermath of Cyclone Kirrily’s arrival in the State’s Far North.
The storm is still a tropical low in the Coral Sea but is continuing to slowly move closer toward the Queensland Coast this morning.
The latest tracking map has the system intensifying into a cyclone by late tonight or early tomorrow morning.
It’s then expected to impact the Queensland Coast from Thursday, between Innisfail and Airlie Beach, as either a Category Two or Category Three system.
The watch zone includes Cairns to St Lawrence (not including Cairns), including Townsville, Mackay and the Whitsunday Islands.
“The chance of a severe tropical cyclone on landfall remains but has decreased,” The Bureau of Meteorology said.
After impacting the State’s north, the system is expected to revert back to a tropical low and head south, where it’s forecast to drench already saturated areas across the South East, including the Gold Coast.
“From Friday, the system is then expected to become an inland rain depression and heavy rainfall may develop across central and southern inland areas, as well as southeast Queensland over the weekend as the system tracks south,” BOM said.
More than 100 millimetres of rain has been forecast to fall across the Gold Coast over the Australia Day long weekend, with Saturday looking like the wettest day with 70mm on the cards.
