Cyclone Narelle to strengthen, strike Australia 4th time
Tropical Cyclone Narelle has made landfall three times in Australia in the last week, and it's not done yet.
Tropical Cyclone Narelle made a rare landfall Friday morning as a Category 4 storm on Australia's Cape York Peninsula between Lockhart River and Coen. The strongest storm to make landfall in Queensland was Yassi in 2011, and Narelle rivaled its intensity.
The storm has made 3 landfalls
Because it has been traversing the outer edge of the country, it has made landfall several times. The second landfall occurred in the far northeastern portion of the Northern Territory in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Narelle made its third landfall in the Kimberley region of Western Australia around 6 p.m. local time Monday.
Narelle isn't done yet
Narelle moved off the Kimberley coast, near Kuri Bay, around 8am, local time," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist/Lead International Forecaster Jason Nicholls said.
"It will strengthen over open water starting Tuesday night and Wednesday, local time. Narelle can regain severe tropical cyclone intensity, a category 2 or 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale on Thursday," Nicholls added.
Narelle then turns south and is expected to make another landfall along the Gascoyne coast of Western Australia Friday night or Saturday. Rain, some heavy, and wind can impact Perth late Friday night into Sunday.
Narelle's track is unusual. Only three other storms have made triple landfalls, with Tropical Cyclone Steve 2000 being the only one that did a southward turn, Nicholls said.
"The last storm most closely matching the forecast of Narelle was Cyclone Bianca in 2011," he added.
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