Category 5 Cyclone Narelle Heading For Cape York (N. Australia) With Winds At 195 mph; Landfall AM Friday
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is expected to make landfall in far north Queensland on Friday morning as a monster category 5 storm, bringing destructive wind gusts of 315km/h, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The severe cyclone rapidly intensified over the past 48 hours and on Thursday morning had built to a category 5 storm that was barrelling west, sitting about 355km east of the small town of Coen. Coen has a population of approximately 330. On Thursday afternoon, the bureau said the tropical cyclone would hit the coast at 7am on Friday – three hours earlier than it had thought – as a category 5 storm.
It would mark the first category 5 system of its kind to hit the Cape York region since Cyclone Mahina killed more than 300 people in March 1899.
Narelle would be just the fourth category 5 cyclone to cross the Queensland coast in half a century, the premier, David Crisafulli, said.Vulnerable residents had been evacuated, tourists had flown out on the last remaining flights and schools had been closed in the warning zone.More than 100 emergency services personnel had been sent north, with police going door-to-door to ensure locals were prepared.
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/19/tropical-cyclone-narelle-qld-storm-tracker-path-tracking-map-bom