Tropical Cyclone Jasper remains category four as north Queensland communities brace for possible impact - ABC News
Loading...
Tropical Cyclone Jasper remains a category four system, but authorities have warned Queenslanders in the firing lane against becoming complacent.
It could reach landfall anywhere between Cape Melville and Townsville, including Cairns and Cooktown, but the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) admits the outlook remains uncertain.
BOM's forecasting suggests Jasper could cross the Queensland coast late on Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.
Meteorologist Dave Grant said Jasper could become a category four or even a category five system by that time.
"There is a significant risk that the system could re-intensify into a severe tropical cyclone as it approaches the north Queensland coast and with also the potential that it could make landfall in the areas between Cooktown and Townsville around the middle of next week," Mr Grant said.
"At this stage, a tropical cyclone watch may be issued as early as Sunday, but this will be highly dependent on the movement and development of the system.
"There's still a considerable amount of uncertainty and where the system will track over the coming days."
A category four or five cyclone means a potential for winds exceeding 270 kilometres per hour.
Severe weather conditions statewide
Mr Grant said Jasper would bring heavy rainfall totals, increasing flood risks in some areas of Queensland, while cooling other regions.
"Heavy showers should develop along the central and northern Queensland coast from Monday," he said.
"As a result of that, we will closely monitor the need for a flood watch for coastal catchments in the area around north Queensland.
"We also do have severe heatwave conditions that continue across areas of Far North Queensland and also through areas of western and southern Queensland over the next few days.
"Those conditions will probably start to abate as we move into next week."
Mr Grant said the Queensland summer outlook remains predominantly dry, but other rain and storm events remain a possibility.
"Despite the fact we do have an El NiƱo, and generally a warm and dry outlook, we can still get high-impact rainfall events, so the potential repeat of rainfall incidences like that can definitely not be discounted."
0 Response to "Tropical Cyclone Jasper remains category four as north Queensland communities brace for possible impact - ABC News"
Post a Comment