Severe Tropical Cyclone Alfred 22U at 4:00 am AEST:
Intensity: category 3, sustained winds near the centre of 155 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 220 kilometres per hour.
Location: within 30 kilometres of 18.4 degrees South, 155.7 degrees East , 750 kilometres east northeast of Mackay and 770 kilometres northeast of Rockhampton .
Movement: south southeast at 9 kilometres per hour .
Alfred is forecast to continue moving to the south through the Coral Sea today. On Saturday it may take a turn to the south southwest towards the Queensland coast before tracking southeast away from the coast during Sunday.
There is increasing confidence that Alfred will stay offshore. However, Alfred is likely to be slow moving next week with some ongoing uncertainty as to how close to the southern Queensland coast it may come.
Regardless of the track Alfred takes, severe coastal hazards are likely for southern Queensland and northeast New South Wales. A large and powerful to potentially damaging easterly swell as well as abnormally high tides are forecast to develop about southern Queensland beaches from Friday and especially during Saturday, extending to northern New South Wales from Sunday or Monday. Refer to marine warnings and forecasts for further information on these hazards.
#QldWeather #QldCyclone #TCAlfred update for 4am Fri 28/2. Back down to cat 3, landfall less likely. www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ...
Full details from the BoM in the image alt-text.