A tropical cyclone is expected to form in the Gulf of Carpentaria this weekend with the potential of impacting already drenched communities.
A tropical low located over Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory is forecast to track east into the Gulf of Carpentaria, where is expected to form into a tropical cyclone.
Bureau of Meteorology community information officer Daniel Hayes said the system would move into the Gulf today (Friday).
"Once it moves over the Gulf, conditions are favourable for it to develop. Obviously there are warm waters there, so it is likely to be a cyclone over the weekend," Mr Hayes said.
"There is a moderate chance that it will strengthen to cyclone strength on Saturday, but Sunday has a 50 per cent chance that it will have developed into a cyclone by then.
"We are likely to see quite a bit of rain developing around the coastal parts of the Gulf of Carpentaria, into the Northern Territory and potentially western parts of the Cape York Peninsular in Queensland."
Mr Hayes said once the cyclone develops it was predicted to track west into the Northern Territory.
"It is likely to make a crossing either in the western Gulf country, around the Carpentaria district or Arnhem Land, so for the most part it will move into the Northern Territory," he said.
"Isolated falls in excess of 200 millimetres are predicted as we go through the weekend, depending on the movement and how quickly it moves."
With two tropical low systems active, it is unclear what this system will be named.
"This system is called 09U and the low off the Pilbara coast is 08U and it is also likely to become a cyclone over the weekend, so it will be a toss up to which one will be named first.
"However the next two names on the list are Megan and Neville."
After an already active season across Northern Queensland, the system is expected to deliver rain to an already damp region.
"Catchments are quite saturated so anywhere that we do see those large falls, we are likely to see rapid responses from river systems," Mr Hayes said.
"We currently have a range of flood watches in place and they will likely be added to across the next few days.
"At the moment we have a flood watch over the northern part of the Cape, flood watch in place for the Gilbert River and a minor flood warning for the Norman River.
"We are likely to see flood watches come back into the rest of the Gulf country over the course of the next day or so as the system moves in."
Samantha Campbell
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
