Australia Weather News

A tropical low off the Queensland coast has a high chance of becoming a cyclone as early as Sunday, with strong wind warnings in place for most of the state's coastline.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jonathan How said the system had developed about 600 kilometres north-east of Cairns.

"It is well off the Queensland coast at the moment, but it is gradually developing and strengthening," he said.

System could move south

Mr How said while it was too early to accurately forecast the system's movements, it was likely to move south from mid-next week.

"Some computer-modelled guidance does have that system drifting as far south as the Wide Bay area, remaining offshore for the time being," he said.

"There's quite a few scenarios possible, ranging anywhere from staying offshore, moving out towards New Caledonia, and some of those further models to bring it further down towards K'gari and the south-east of Queensland.

"It's a little bit too early to say at this stage what exactly it will do, but in the short term, no threats to Queensland or any offshore islands in the next two to three days."

The bureau said it would have a better understanding of whether the system would move towards the Queensland coast next week.

The weather system is one of two tropical lows currently looming around Australia, contending to be named either Alfred or Bianca if it does form into a cyclone.

"There are actually two tropical lows to the north, another one over Western Australia which could get there first, so we could see two cyclones … so it could be one of those two names," Mr How said.

Strong wind warnings

The tropical low has brought strong winds along the east coast, with warnings issued for Cooktown down to Capricornia.

"That's because on the southern flank of this low it is sort of whipping up those stronger south-easterly winds, so an indirect impact at the moment," Mr How said.

"We will see those winds increase from the middle of next week, and could also see an increase of sea and swell as well right along the coast."

Mr How urged Queenslanders to keep an eye on the bureau's tropical cyclone outlook, particularly into next week.

"This one is quite interesting just because it drifts quite far south," he said.

"Typically, we've seen that flooding across tropical north Queensland, but it's not often we see a tropical system drift as far south as the central and south coast.

"It really is a good reminder for those to keep across the forecast."