What To Expect As Cyclone Narelle Hits Perth This Weekend

Torrential rain has hit Perth early Friday morning, as tropical cyclone Narelle continues its path south. At the time of writing, the cyclone is located near Coral Bay and set to maintain a southerly track near the Gascoyne coast over Friday. 

It is forecast that the cyclone will transition to a vigorous subtropical low from Saturday morning as it moves rapidly southeast, with risks of damaging winds and heavy rainfall continuing throughout Saturday. 

Current forecasts expect the cyclone to move offshore by early Sunday morning. 

Current Warnings In Place

As of Friday morning, the Bureau has the following warnings in place:

• Flood watch for western parts of the Pilbara, Gascoyne and Central and Lower West Coastal catchments. Western Pilbara, Gascoyne and Central West catchments can expect heavy rainfall over Friday, which may extend south across catchments in the Lower West and Great Southern into Saturday. The full list of catchments likely to be impacted can be found here.
• Severe weather warning for damaging, locally destructive winds and heavy rainfall for South East Coastal, Great Southern, Central Wheat Belt and parts of Gascoyne, Goldfields, Central West, Lower West, South Coastal and Eucla districts. Destructive winds averaging up to 90km/hour and destructive gusts in excess of 125km/hour are possible near the system. It is expected conditions will ease below warning thresholds by early Sunday. The full list of catchments likely to be impacted, plus latest safety advice, can be found here.

The Bureau has additionally issued the following wind warnings for Friday 27 March: 

• Hurricane Force Wind Warning for Pilbara Coast West, Ningaloo Coast and Gascoyne Coast. 
• Gale Warning for Geraldton Coast.
• Strong Wind Warning for Pilbara Coast East, Lancelin Coast, Leeuwin Coast, Albany Coast, Esperance Coast and Eucla Coast. 

And the following wind warnings for Saturday 28 March: 

• Gale Warning for Gascoyne Coast, Geraldton Coast, Lancelin Coast and Esperance Coast. 
• Strong Wind Warning for Perth Local Waters, Melville Waters, Ningaloo Coast, Perth Coast, Albany Coast and Eucla Coast. 

You can find the latest warnings and alerts from the Bureau here. 

Weekend Weather Forecast 

If there’s ever a weekend to cosy up inside, it’s this one. Here’s what to expect from this weekend’s weather. 

• Friday: High of 26°C, with 20-50mm rain. Chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon and early evening, possibly severe with heavy rain which may lead to flash flooding. Winds easterly 25 to 35 km/h.
• Saturday: High of 23°C, with 25-60mm rain. Very high chance of rain, most likely in the morning. The chance of a thunderstorm in the early morning. Winds east to southeasterly 35 to 55 km/h tending southeast to southwesterly in the morning then tending northwest to southwesterly 15 to 25 km/h in the early afternoon.
• ​Sunday: High of 24°C, with 0-4mm rain. High chance of showers, most likely in the morning. The chance of a thunderstorm in the morning. Light winds becoming westerly 15 to 20 km/h during the morning then tending southwesterly during the afternoon.