A cyclone bearing down on the northern Kimberley coast is expected to bring destructive wind gusts of up to 130 kilometres per hour and make landfall to the north-east of the remote WA community of Kalumburu.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) earlier removed Darwin from a cyclone watch zone as Tropical Cyclone Anika continued to move closer to the Kimberley coast.
The BOM said Tropical Cyclone Anika, which formed into a category one system in the Timor Sea this morning, was expected to reach category two strength shortly before making landfall some time on Sunday.
"We are expecting it … [to make] landfall to the north-east of Kalumburu," BOM forecaster Jessica Lingard said.
"It's then going to degrade quite rapidly down to a tropical low as it skirts across the north Kimberley coastline."
The system is expected to bring gales along the west Kimberley coast to Kuri Bay and close to Derby by Monday afternoon.
Heavy rainfall is expected in the northern parts of the Kimberley over coming days.
Kalumburu on alert
WA's Department of Fire and Emergency Services issued a Red Alert for Kalumburu residents late Saturday, meaning there was a threat to lives and homes and they should shelter immediately.
Kalumburu Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Madeline Gallagher-Dann sent her employees home early on Friday to prepare.
"We've been through it many times with big floods," she said.
"We know the drill: Go home, get your yard ready, get your family ready.
"Everyone's helping each other with their yards, tying down a lot of things."
Kalumburu is WA's northernmost Aboriginal community and cannot be accessed by road during the wet season.
Ms Gallagher-Dann said residents were ensuring they had enough supplies.
"A lot of people have stocked up on food, water, and pre-paid power," she said.
Authorities said winds of 130kph were expected to lash the coast between Kalumburu and the town of Wyndham when the cyclone made landfall.
Threat to Darwin eases
On Saturday afternoon, the BOM said the threat of a cyclone crossing the Northern Territory had passed.
A warning zone remains in place between the Daly River mouth in the Northern Territory and the NT/WA border.
But the area between Daly River and Point Stuart, including the Darwin area, Tiwi Islands and Dundee Beach, has been removed from the cyclone watch zone.
The BOM's cyclone warning zone stretches from the Daly River mouth to the Mitchell Plateau in WA, including Wadeye in the NT and Wyndham and Kalumburu in WA.
East of the warning zone, a watch zone is in place from the Mitchell Plateau to Derby, but not including Derby.
The BOM's cyclone Track Map says Tropical Cyclone Anika has sustained winds near the centre of up to 85 kilometres per hour, with wind gusts of about 120kph.
The BOM said the Top End could expect to see a continuation of monsoonal showers and there was a "good chance" of flash flooding in some locations.
Anika expected to track along Kimberley coast
Ms Lingard said the tropical low was on track to travel in a south-westerly direction past Kalumburu and the Mitchell Plateau before moving back over the ocean around Kuri Bay.
"The most likely track for it in the next couple of days is to continue to track along the north-west Kimberley coastline at least until Monday or Tuesday next week," Ms Lingard said.
"Beyond then, we'll be able to make some more forecasts and look at the what the models are doing then."
She said there was a possibility the cyclone could pick up in intensity again but longer-term forecasting was proving challenging.
"There are still a few scenarios that it could take," she said.
"If it continues on its more southerly path, it is more likely to develop into a category two system, however if it tends more south-westerly there is a chance that it will hit land earlier and so not develop quite as high and then hit the coast as a category two system.
"At this stage, the most likely track for it in the next couple of days is to continue to track along the north-west Kimberley coastline at least until Monday or Tuesday next week, and then beyond then we'll be able to make some more forecasts and look at the what the models are doing then.”
