Millions of people are bracing for severe gale-force winds, heavy rain and huge tides as Tropical Cyclone Alfred is set to make landfall within days.
New modelling has predicted the cyclone is expected to hit Brisbane on Thursday as it slams ashore and creates havoc in south-east Queensland and north-east NSW.
Thomas Hinterdorfer, of Higgins Storm Chasing told Daily Mail Australia that the last time a tropical cyclone made landfall as a categorised system in south-eastern Queensland was in March 1992.
That one, Severe Tropical Cyclone Fran, led to beaches being closed on the Gold Coast and Sunshine coast, and train services cancelled in Brisbane.
Across the state, coastal towns were flooded, trees were uprooted and power was knocked out.
One-third of a century later, Queenslanders will be hoping history isn’t fully repeated, but lifeguards have already closed dozens of beaches from Agnes Water in Gladstone down to Currumbin on the Gold Coast on Sunday in anticipation.
The state has been battered by high winds and massive wave swells over the past few days, with Great Keppel Island’s Hideaway resort evacuated last Thursday.
The category two system, which has been producing wind gusts of 220km/h in the Coral Sea, is forecast to move southward ‘roughly parallel’ to the Queensland coast on Sunday, before moving to the south-east on Monday.
Millions of people are bracing for severe gale-force winds, heavy rain and huge tides as Tropical Cyclone Alfred is set to make landfall (pictured: Townsville in recent weeks)
The cyclone is headed for Brisbane on Thursday as it slams ashore and creates havoc in south-east Queensland and north-east NSW. Picture: Higgins Storm Chasers
‘Alfred is then expected to slow down and is likely to turn westward from Tuesday, moving back towards the southern Queensland coast,’ the Bureau of Meteorology said.
As of Sunday morning, Alfred was moving over the Coral Sea about 510km east of Rockhampton and is expected to cause strong to gale-force winds around K’gari (Fraser Island) in the afternoon.
‘Severe coastal hazards are likely for southern Queensland and north-east New South Wales,’ the bureau said.
‘A large and powerful to potentially damaging easterly swell as well as abnormally high tides are forecast about exposed southern Queensland beaches, possibly extending to northern New South Wales from Monday.’
Mr Hinterdorfer said the models they were using suggested Alfred would track west to Queensland throughout the week.
‘Nothing before Tuesday says a landfall is expected, but then from Wednesday onwards, it gets a little bit more interesting with the model scenarios as they’re currently playing out,’ he told the Courier-Mail.
‘There’s definitely the possibility of it from probably Wednesday onwards or midweek onwards, several models have that scenario at the moment, but of course, we need to let them play out a little bit more just before we hard lock it.’
A Bureau of Meteorology weather map shows with south-east Queensland and north-east NSW is in for in the coming days
Queensland has been battered by high winds and massive wave swells over the past few days, with Great Keppel Island’s Hideaway resort evacuated last Thursday. BoM map pictured
North Queensland has been hammered by wild weather this year, with winds and heavy rain wreaking havoc earlier this month (pictured: Townsville on February 10)
On Sunday morning, Mr Hinterdorfer warned south-east Queensland and north-east NSW residents to be prepared for landfall.
‘It’s been 33 years since a tropical cyclone has made landfall as a categorised system in south-eastern Queensland,’ he wrote on Facebook.
‘And it looks like that streak or drought is about to come to an end … all model guidance continues to suggest that Tropical Cyclone Alfred is forecast to make landfall over south-east Queensland next week.’
The Bureau of Meteorology encouraged residents and communities on the Queensland and northern NSW coasts to stay informed with the latest tropical cyclone information and forecast tracks on its website in the coming days.
Queensland’s south-east is forecast to be lashed with 150mm of rain if Alfred makes landfall as expected.
The Gold Coast is expected to see more than 200mm over the coming days.
