Australia Weather News

Northern New South Wales could bear the brunt of the torrential rain and wild winds accompanying Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which is expected to hit the coast in the coming days.

The Bureau of Meterology has confirmed the category two cyclone is expected to make landfall near Brisbane early on Friday morning.

Rainfall is expected to start increasing in intensity from Wednesday throughout northern NSW and south-east Queensland.

Parts of the northern NSW coast were already experiencing rain squalls and south-easterly winds on Wednesday morning, with forecasts predicting 6-metre swells in the ocean.

However, the position of NSW in relation to the weather system puts it in a vulnerable position.

NSW is in the forward left quadrant, which is the most dangerous side of a tropical cyclone.

Air spins clockwise around a low pressure system in the southern hemisphere, so the wind direction to the south of Alfred is moving in the same direction as the cyclone, combining their speeds to cause more damage on the poleward side.

Destructive wind gusts of up to 155 kilometres per hour may develop about the exposed coastal and island locations near and to the south of the track, as Alfred's destructive core approaches and crosses the coast.

These wind gusts could uproot trees and damage rooves.

Six-hourly rainfall totals between 200 and 250 millimetres and 24-hour totals between 300 and 400mm are also possible on the southern side of the system.

This level of rainfall could lead to dangerous flash flooding, but there is also a high risk of riverine flooding in all major catchments of the NSW north coast, from the Tweed River to the Hastings River.

Ahead of the worst of the weather, NSW education department has confirmed 121 schools from the Clarence Valley north to the Queensland border, and inland to the Kyogle Shire will be non-operational from today till at least Friday.

NSW TAFE campuses and pre-schools in the region are also closed.

NSW Premier Chris Minns 

Unfamiliar territory 

NSW State Emergency Service Deputy Commissioner Debbie Platz said most NSW residents are not familiar with cyclones.

The last cyclone to cross Queensland's south-east was Zoe in 1974, while Nancy came close to NSW in 1990.

"While NSW experiences storms and heavy rainfall, we haven't had a cyclone in a significant amount of time," she said.

"That's why we're asking our communities to stay very alert."

She said the slow-moving system has allowed the SES 10 days to prepare, including pre-positioning staff, volunteers, and resources such as additional boats, high-clearance vehicles, and communication units.

Currently, 1,000 SES volunteers are already on the ground in the Northern Rivers.

The NSW Government has established seven evacuation centres which will begin opening across the Northern Rivers this afternoon from 4pm.

Cyclone resulting in big surf

The cyclone is expected to make landfall almost exactly three years after rapidly rising flood waters devastated Lismore and other communities in the Northern Rivers.

Residents have acted early to secure sandbags and test backup communication systems ahead of the wild weather.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued a hazardous surf warning for the entire NSW coast, with low lying areas north of Port Macquarie at risk of coastal erosion.

"We are already seeing waves in excess of four metres, we are likely to see them pushing up to five, six, seven metres over the coming days," said BOM senior forecaster Miriam Bradbury.

"Around the time of crossing those wave heights may push up to eight or nine metres."

Residents in the area are preparing with sandbags and stocking up on supplies, clearing out supermarket shelves to ensure they have enough essentials.

Flood alerts issued

The NSW SES North Eastern Zone issued a series of flood alerts on Tuesday afternoon for northern parts of the state.

Coraki, Woodburn, Swan Bay, Casino, Tweed Coastal Creeks and the Lismore Upper Catchment were told to "stay informed" on the evolving weather event, with the Richmond River predicted to experience moderate to major flooding.

NSW SES also said it was facilitating over 20 community meetings in impacted towns to ensure residents had up-to-date information.

NSW SES Assistant Commissioner Nicole Hogan urged the community to remain calm and support each other.

"This is an unpredictable, multi-hazard weather event and residents in the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers need to prepare for damaging and destructive winds and heavy rainfall which can cause flash flooding," she said.

"If your community becomes isolated and needs resupply of essential goods, NSW SES will assist with this."

Residents are urged, where possible, to stay with friends or family in areas not expected to be impacted.