{"id":588426,"date":"2026-04-06T04:51:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T04:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/588426\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T04:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T04:51:14","slug":"second-cyclone-in-weeks-threatens-aus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/588426\/","title":{"rendered":"Second cyclone in weeks threatens Aus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forecasters are keeping a nervous eye on another cyclone looming off Australia, just weeks after Tropical Cyclone Narelle wreaked havoc across three states.<\/p>\n

Tropical Cyclone Maila, currently sitting between Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, is the 11th named tropical cyclone to form or move into the Australian region this season.<\/p>\n

\"Forecasters<\/p>\n

Forecasters are keeping an eye on TC Maila as it rapidly intensifies in the Solomon Sea. Picture: Sky News Australia<\/p>\n

The system was named on Saturday night and is now a category 3 tropical cyclone, according to the Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Badwen Gilbert.<\/p>\n

While uncertainty remains as to its path, there is a risk Tropical Cyclone Maila could bear down on Far North Queensland, parts of which were struck by Narelle only weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s now increasing confidence that this system will continue towards Far North Queensland this weekend,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Queensland<\/p>\n

Queensland can expect scattered rain and strong winds along the coast. Picture: Sky News Australia<\/p>\n

Locals have been warned they could face winds of 95 km\/h at the cyclone\u2019s centre and winds gusts of up to 130 km\/h if it makes landfall.<\/p>\n

It comes just weeks after parts of Far North Queensland, the Top End, and Western Australia were smashed by Narelle.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of people were evacuated including those in Port Steward in Queensland and Numbulwar in Northern Territory. Schools were closed, flights cancelled and emergency packs distributed.<\/p>\n

The system pumped record-breaking rain onto the already saturated ground, keeping the Daly River at major flood levels for days.<\/p>\n

Katherine was hit particularly hard, facing its second major flooding in three weeks and requiring the ADF to step in for emergency assistance and recovery.<\/p>\n

\"Numbulwar<\/p>\n

Numbulwar on March 24, 2026 after the community was hit by Tropical Cyclone Narelle. Pic: Supplied.<\/p>\n

The system had travelled more than 5700km since it formed near the Solomons and made its way down to WA.<\/p>\n

It crossed the Pilbara coast as a category 3 system between Coral Bay and Cape Cuvier.<\/p>\n

It swept through the remote region bordering Ningaloo Reef with 250km\/h winds and bucketing down 350mm of rainfall.<\/p>\n

Numerous Exmouth residents were left without power and water supply with supply reserved for the local hospital.<\/p>\n

Additionally, gas production operations including Chevron and Woodside facilities within the region had been paused after critical infrastructure was damaged by the system.<\/p>\n

\"Roof<\/p>\n

Roof panels been ripped off a house in Exmouth by Tropical Cyclone Narelle. Picture: 7News<\/p>\n

While communities in Far North Queensland braces for the potential impact of yet another cyclone, the rest of the state is expected to have a steadier week in weather.<\/p>\n

Parts of the state\u2019s coastline including K\u2019gari, Mackay, and the Whitsundays as well as the Cassowary and Dungaree Coasts can expect some isolated showers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will all be lighter than they have been in the recent days,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Southern and Central Queensland are forecast to have rain-free conditions with weather \u201ca bit warmer than average\u201d across the region, with towns including Roma and Charleville looking at temperatures 8 ] to 10 degrees above average in the middle of this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forecasters are keeping a nervous eye on another cyclone looming off Australia, just weeks after Tropical Cyclone Narelle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,270870,31801,44,701,62639,287623,147353,3439],"class_list":{"0":"post-588426","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cyclone-narelle","11":"tag-far-north-queensland","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-queensland","14":"tag-sky-news-australia","15":"tag-strong-winds","16":"tag-tropical-cyclone","17":"tag-western-australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}