Summary
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle was a long-lived event that crossed the coasts of far north Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia at severe TC intensity, only the second cyclone to do so following Ingrid (2005).
Tropical Low 34U formed near the southern Solomon Islands on 15 March and moved on a general westerly track over following days. Tropical Cyclone Narelle was named on 17 March and reached category 3 intensity the following day, then began a period of rapid intensification to peak at category 5 intensity on 19 March. Narelle weakened slightly to category 4 intensity as it crossed the Far North Queensland coast, passing between Lockhart River and Coen on the morning of 20 March.
Narelle weakened as it moved over Cape York Peninsula and emerged into the Gulf of Carpentaria near Aurukun, south of Weipa, at category 2 intensity late on 20 March. The tropical cyclone continued on a steady westward track, redeveloping into a severe tropical cyclone before crossing the Northern Territory coast between Nhulunbuy and Groote Eylandt early on 21 March at category 3 strength.
Despite soon weakening below tropical cyclone intensity, the system produced heavy rain over previously flooded catchments in the Northern Territory, especially the Daly and Victoria River regions. On 23 March, the low moved across Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and the north Kimberley before moving offshore on 24 March.
Narelle redeveloped into a tropical cyclone northwest of Broome early on 25 March and quickly reached severe category 3 intensity later that day, north of Port Hedland, as it moved west southwest parallel to the Pilbara coast. The system had developed into a large circulation and despite being located about 150 kilometres to the north of the Pilbara coast, many coastal locations experienced a prolonged period of gale force winds as it moved west.
On 26 Narelle turned to the southwest and moved closer to the west Pilbara coast as it reached category 4 intensity. The tropical cyclone then turned south and passed just west of Exmouth early on 27 March. Narelle then turned south southeast and made landfall just to the south of Coral Bay, passing to the east of Carnarvon. The tropical cyclone quickly weakened as it accelerated to the south southeast and was downgraded to below tropical cyclone intensity early on 28 March as it moved over land east of Kalbarri and Geraldton.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle was the tenth tropical cyclone and the sixth severe tropical cyclone in the Australian region for the 2025/26 season. Narelle was the first tropical cyclone to impact Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia since Severe Tropical Cyclone Ingrid in 2005. Tropical Cyclone Advices were first issued on 17 March for the Queensland coast and continued through to 28 March over Western Australia. This is believed to be the longest continuous period of advices for any tropical cyclone in Australia.
Note: A comprehensive report will be issued for this event upon completion of a post event reanalysis. All information relating to intensity and track is preliminary information and subject to change following post analysis.
Track and intensity (Times in UTC= AEST-10h, ACST-9.5h, AWST+8h)
Impacts
Narelle crossed the Far North Queensland coast between Coen and Lockhart River sparing those communities from the worst conditions. Strong winds across Cape York Peninsula extended to Weipa on the Gulf coast and caused mostly minor building damage and power outages with many trees and branches down. Heavy rainfall caused flooding of properties and roads.
Narelle crossed the Northern Territory coast in a sparsely populated area between Groote Eylandt and Nhulunbuy. Reports of wind damage were mostly related to trees and branches down and power outages. Narelle then brought heavy rain as it moved further west over already saturated catchments. This caused further flooding to the Katherine and Daly River regions which had previously experienced record flooding only weeks earlier.
Narelle then continued west across the northern Kimberley causing heavy rain. The coastal communities west of Port Hedland experienced a prolonged period of gales, and at times storm force winds, as Narelle re-intensified off the Pilbara coast. This caused mostly minor damage to the communities east of Onslow but there was significant disruption to the ports, airports and industry.
Exmouth suffered widespread, substantial damage as Narelle passed within 35 kilometres to the west of the town. Roofs were ripped off houses and buildings suffered water ingress from wind driven rain. The stretch of coast between Onslow and Ningaloo experienced a large storm surge, measured at 3 metres at Exmouth, which inundated the coast even though it coincided with tides well below high tide. Pastoral stations in the west Pilbara and Gascoyne experienced significant flooding, building and infrastructure damage and livestock loses. Despite weakening as it moved south Narelle caused substantial damage to the banana plantations at Carnarvon however the town experienced only minor damage. The heavy rain caused flooding and some damage to roads between Carnarvon and Exmouth causing road closures.
For many areas of the Gascoyne and Murchison region the heavy rainfall brought an end to prolonged dry conditions.
Observations
Wind
The table below shows the maximum wind gusts geographically from Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia. Narelle's large size whilst off the WA coast caused prolonged periods of strong winds along the Pilbara and adjacent Gascoyne coasts. Learmonth Airport, just south of Exmouth observed a peak 10-minute wind of 145 km/h and a record period of 5 hours and 42 minutes of winds in excess of 120 km/h (hurricane force) during the morning of 27 March.
| Location | Maximum Wind Gust (km/h) | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lockhart River Airport | 115 | 20 March |
| Weipa Aero | 109 | 20 March |
| Groote Eylandt | 83 | 22 March |
| Ngayawili | 91 | 22 March |
| Rowley Shoals | 144 | 25 March |
| Bedout Island | 150 | 26 March |
| Karratha Aero | 124 | 26 March |
| Legendre Island | 146 | 26 March |
| Varanus Island | 185 | 26 March |
| Barrow Island | 170 | 26 March |
| Thevenard Island | 163 | 27 March |
| Mardie | 116 | 26 March |
| Onslow | 150 | 27 March |
| Learmonth Airport | 200 | 27 March |
| Carnarvon | 133 | 27 March |
Rainfall
In general Narelle caused a large swathe of rainfall in excess of 200 mm across Far North Queensland, Northern Territory, and northwest of Western Australia as shown in the maps of weekly rainfall in each state below.
