Here’s the latest on what you can expect from Cyclone Alfred today, tomorrow, and this weekend.
When will Cyclone Alfred hit?
The BoM’s latest update has pushed the cyclone’s arrival back by about a day, with original forecast saying it would hit the coast overnight on Thursday and into Friday morning.
The latest predicted path of Cyclone Alfred Credit: Bureau of Meteorology
In the BoM’s latest update, Alfred will hit coastal areas from Double Island Point in Queensland to east of Grafton in NSW, including Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Byron Bay and Ballina.
The town of Grafton itself is expected to lie outside the cyclone’s path.
How severe will Cyclone Alfred be?
They have maximum average wind speeds of between 63–88 km/h, with strongest winds of up to 125 km/h.
“If anything, what I’d say to communities today is that the uncertainty about the window at which the cyclone will cross remains. We do need people to be alert, to be listening to emergency broadcasts, to be checking the apps, and just keeping themselves informed of the risks that might confront them over the course of the week.”
Alfred slowing doesn’t mean it won’t intensify
“It’s not clear that it could intensify as well as it is over warmer waters. It has the potential to increase the intensity of it.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said while the cyclone has slowed down, it didn’t mean it would be less intense. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
What’s the latest BoM forecast
Things are changing quickly in south-east Queensland and northern NSW, but based on current BoM forecasts:
Rainfall, flooding and surf conditions:
- Heavy to locally intense rainfall, which may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding is likely to develop from Friday afternoon and continue near and south of the system centre during the weekend.
- Separate Severe Weather Warning, Flood Watches, and Flood Warnings are current for southeast Queensland and northeast NSW.
- Abnormally high tides are likely to continue causing minor flooding of coastal low lying areas between Double Island Point and Ballina, particularly during the high tide, which will peak early on Saturday.
- Damaging surf leading to significant beach erosion remains likely for the open beaches between Double Island Point and Grafton, and further south over the NSW coast.
Wild wind:
- Gales with damaging wind gusts of up to 120 kilometres per hour are occurring near the coast between Cape Moreton and Yamba and are expected to extend along the remaining southeast Queensland and northeastern NSW coastal and island communities between Noosa and Yamba later today as Alfred approaches the coast. These winds may extend as far south as Grafton and northwards to Double Island Point in the evening or Saturday morning.
- Destructive wind gusts of up to 155 kilometres per hour may develop about the Moreton Bay Islands and exposed coastal location on the northern Gold Coast from tonight, as Alfred’s destructive core approaches the coast. The destructive winds may persist until Alfred crosses the coast early Saturday morning.
- Although Alfred is expected to weaken and move inland during Saturday, damaging wind gusts may continue, particularly over elevated terrain during Saturday, before easing throughout during Sunday.