Tropical Cyclone Alfred could intensify in coming days

Australian Community Media

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is likely to stay several hundred kilometres offshore according to the BoM. Video by the Bureau of Meteorology, 11am AEST February 24, 2025.

Transcript

00:00Tropical Cyclone Alfred is a Category 1 tropical cyclone

00:04about 930 kilometres northeast of Cairns over the Coral Sea.

00:08Alfred was named as a tropical cyclone on Sunday afternoon

00:12and hasn't really moved far since,

00:14continuing to be a Category 1 system

00:16and we can see it very clearly on the satellite imagery here.

00:19Underneath this broad mass of cloud and thunderstorms,

00:22we have got the Category 1 CC at the moment.

00:25If you're wondering what the number means,

00:27the category of a tropical cyclone

00:29is directly related to how strong the winds are,

00:32which absolutely whistle around the centre

00:35of the tropical cyclone.

00:37In the past 24 hours, we haven't seen much intensification.

00:40It's still a Category 1 system,

00:42which is the lowest of all the categories,

00:44but we do expect to see Alfred intensify through the day.

00:47Perhaps even later on Monday,

00:49it could become a Category 2 tropical cyclone

00:52and then we'll continue to see intensification

00:54tomorrow on Tuesday,

00:56where we could see a Category 3 tropical cyclone.

01:00That's classified as a severe tropical cyclone

01:02at that point, meaning the winds are absolutely racing

01:06around the centre of Alfred.

01:08It is likely to stay several hundred kilometres offshore,

01:11probably at least about 700 or so,

01:13for the next several days, meaning those strongest winds

01:16and most of the rainfall will be out over the open waters

01:19of the Coral Sea,

01:20but it will still be influencing the coastline.

01:23Strong gusty conditions are expected

01:24along the Queensland coast

01:26and we've already started to see that,

01:27with many places gusting 60 to 70 kilometres an hour.

01:31A few showers will impact eastern parts of Queensland

01:33this week as well and we also expect a notable increase

01:37in the size of the waves across the east coast,

01:40particularly on Thursday and Friday.

01:42So if you like to get out on the water

01:44or you live in a low-lying coastal part of Queensland,

01:47do keep up to date with your local coastal waters forecast

01:51because some of these waves could be powerful

01:53and potentially damaging.

01:55If you're not right along the east coast though,

01:57we won't see much of an impact

01:58from the tropical cyclone here,

02:00with a relatively settled week for central Queensland,

02:02mostly sunny conditions, just a touch cooler than average,

02:05with the wind coming up from the south.

02:08Now what happens beyond Thursday?

02:10That's where there's real interest in the system

02:11because there are still a few scenarios

02:13which remain possible,

02:15including the risk that tropical cyclone Alfred

02:17veers closer to the Queensland coast late this week

02:20or perhaps more likely during the weekend.

02:23It could approach or even cross the coast

02:26anywhere from around the Herbert and Lower Burdekin

02:28down to the Wide Bay or potentially even further south,

02:31so there are many people throughout eastern Queensland

02:34that ought to stay up to date this week

02:35with the latest developments and movements

02:38of this tropical cyclone.

02:39There is also a chance that Alfred just continues

02:42on its way southeast,

02:43bringing the severe weather down into the Tasman Sea

02:45and sparing the worst of those conditions

02:47for eastern parts of Queensland.

02:50I would like to finish with what we currently see

02:52as the most likely track,

02:53but of course this could change.

02:56We've got the Tropical Cyclone Forecast Team

02:57working around the clock at the moment

02:59and as they monitor Alfred and its developments,

03:01the track will be updated

03:03when we get the latest information available,

03:05but currently we see it most likely

03:07that Alfred tracks almost straight southwards

03:09for several days through this week

03:11and then during the weekend,

03:13just starts to duck a little bit closer

03:15to the Queensland coast.

03:16So the weekend and early next week

03:18is looking to be the key time.

03:20I really just want to hammer home that message.

03:22For the next several days,

03:23the best thing you can do is stay up to date

03:25with the forecast for this system

03:27and in particular, its forecast track map,

03:30which can be found on the Tropical Cyclone tab

03:32available from the Bureau of Meteorology website homepage.

03:35Thanks very much for watching.

03:36Have a good week.

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