Tropical Cyclone Oma, currently a category 2 system is located west of Vanuatu and will gradually move south-west into Australian waters over the coming days.
As Oma continues to drift in a south-westerly direction towards the QLD coast, this system will combine with a ridge of high pressure and generate strong to gale force south to south-easterly winds across coastal areas from Central QLD to the Northern Rivers of NSW.
Whilst Oma isn?t expected to have a significant impact in regards to rainfall for the east coast at this stage, dangerous swells, large waves, beach erosion and abnormally high tides are expected, particularly from mid-week through until the weekend.
A similar pattern is likely to persist during autumn, with the El Nino influence expected to help contribute to lower than average rainfall across parts of northern Australia.
Island communities, exposed coastal locations and elevated terrain are likely to experience localised damaging winds gusts to up to and exceeding 90km/h mid to late week with coastal showers expected to develop.
At this stage, most models suggest that Oma will not strike the QLD coast, however model guidance is still unclear. Early indications suggest that Oma may be pushed south-east towards NZ as and upper trough moves across Australia.
Image 1: Satellite Imagery - QLD Coastal Waters with Radar overlay