Severe Tropical Cyclone threatens Far North Queensland

A severe tropical cyclone has been slowly intensifying in the north Coral Sea just off the south eastern tip of Papua New Guinea during the last few days. Tropical Cyclone Ita is currently a Category 3 storm moving west towards the far north coast of Queensland.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts the storm to intensify further to a Category 4 storm as it approaches the coast. There are already comparisons to Tropical Cyclone Yasi, which hit south of Cairns as a Category 5 storm at the beginning of February in 2011. So far it has followed a fairly similar sequence of events to the destructive Yasi, but Ita has been developing further north and current tracks predict the storm to make landfall further up the coast.

Tropical Cyclone Ita Forecast Track Map at 4:44pm AEST on April 9 2014
Source: Bureau of Meteorology (image unedited from original)

If Ita does follow the current forecast as shown in the above image, it should avoid any major population centres. There are very few towns and settlements in that area of the country, but nearby locations like Cooktown, Port Douglas and Cairns are likely to see effects of the storm as it moves south. People living in the direct path of the storm and in surrounding areas have been told to prepare for extensive damage from very destructive winds as well as possible flooding due to tidal surges and heavy rain.

Updated information on the storm can be found here on the BoM website.