Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle has intensified to a category two system, with Norfolk Island declaring cyclone watch as it makes its way down Queensland's coast.
Gabrielle, which was upgraded this morning, is still unlikely to make landfall on the mainland, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).
It is likely to move south on Thursday before tracking south-east towards Norfolk Island, about 1,400 kilometres east of northern NSW, on Friday and into the weekend bringing with it winds in excess of 125 kilometres per hour.
There are more than 500 visitors currently on the Queensland government-administered island, along with its 2,200 residents.
The island's emergency controller George Plant said Gabrielle was coming closer than any cyclone "for quite some time", and is expected to be felt within the next 72 hours.
The current blue alert will likely be upgraded to yellow on Friday, he said.
"The community is anxious about cyclones. We are in the middle of the ocean, and a very high winds can have a pretty severe impact on the island, he said.
"Current tracking suggests that this cyclone is going to be very close to the island Saturday night, Sunday morning.
"Closer than we had one for quite a long time."
The cyclone is unlikely to have much impact on the mainland, senior meteorologist Bradley Wood said.
"We are expecting it to reach category three, or severe tropical cyclone strength, some time Friday as it continues to move away from the Queensland Coast," he said.
"It will be moving well away from Queensland so fortunately [we're] not expecting too many impacts along the coast of the mainland.
"At this stage, we are looking at being a category two cyclone when it does approach the island, which means that damaging to destructive winds as well as heavy rainfall and elevated sea states are going to be a risk for the island."
Strong winds and large waves are forecast along some of the state's coast as the cyclone moves past.
"We are expecting to see increased winds across marine districts, as well as some increased surf and swell out on the water," BOM senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said.
"In this sort of situation, we just advise people to keep an eye on the bureau's website for the latest forecasts and any warnings we might need to issue."
Sunshine Coast local Peter Jursik has been surfing for about 50 years, and said he was looking forward to the weekend forecast.
"If this cyclone is moving down the coast it's going to pick up the swell immensely, so we should be in for some big waves" he said.
"As long as I don't drown."
