Northern Australia braces for strike from newly formed Tropical Cyclone Damien

Tropical Cyclone Damien is poised to strengthen prior to making landfall in North West Australia with flooding rainfall and damaging winds this weekend.

The area of disturbed weather that AccuWeather meteorologists have been monitoring over the past few days strengthened to a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian intensity scale, equivalent to a tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean, on Thursday, local time.

Less interaction with land, warm water and low wind shear will allow Damien to strengthen even further late this week. It is possible Damien becomes a severe tropical cyclone, or the equivalent of a Category 3 or 4 major hurricane in the Atlantic or East Pacific basins, prior to making landfall.

Locations from Wallal Downs westward to Onslow should closely monitor this cyclone for potential impacts in the coming days.

At this time, landfall is most likely between Port Hedland and Gnoorea.

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Prior to making landfall, the storm will cause dangerous seas across the Timor Sea from Broome to Exmouth. Boating conditions will improve this weekend as the storm moves inland.

Impacts near the coast will include flooding, damaging winds, travel disruptions and storm surge flooding.

Locations near and just east of where landfall occurs will be at risk for wind gusts up to 160 km/h (100 mph) which can result in significant property damage and lengthy power cuts.

Farther inland, flash flooding and locally damaging winds will be the most common impacts.

Near and along the track of the storm, rainfall amounts of 100-200 mm (4-8 inches) are expected with an AccuWeather Local StormMax of 400 mm (16 inches).

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com for the latest updates on this storm and your forecast.

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