The AccuWeather forecast for Tropical Cyclone Narelle, as of Thursday morning local time.
Tropical Cyclone Narelle is on a direct path toward northeastern Australia, where it will make a rare landfall as a powerful storm.
"Tropical Cyclone Narelle is forecast to rapidly intensify and could reach the equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale before approaching the Cape York Peninsula of Australia on Friday," AccuWeather lead international forecaster Jason Nicholls said.
Rain and wind will begin to impact the Cape York Peninsula by Thursday afternoon and continue through Friday night. Sustained winds of 130 mph, with gusts up to 160 mph, are expected near landfall Friday morning.
"The first landfall is currently forecast between Cooktown and Lockhart River," Nicholls explained.
