Tropical Cyclone Narelle 09:00 Thursday 26 March 2026 (AWST)
As at 09:00 Thursday 26 March 2026, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) advises Tropical Cyclone Narelle lies north of Port Hedland and is tracking steadily to the west-southwest.
The environment is favourable, and the system is forecast to continue intensifying, with the forecast indicating category 4 by Thursday afternoon.
A period of rapid intensification is likely during the next 30 hours, and the chance of Narelle reaching category 5 intensity while north of the Pilbara coast is around 30%.
There is high confidence in the track to the west-southwest on Thursday, roughly parallel to the Pilbara coast. The extent of gales and storm force winds south of Narelle is likely to be larger than normal.
Sustained gales are occurring over coastal parts of the Pilbara, with storm force winds just offshore.
As of 09:00 Thursday 26 2026, Pilbara Ports has closed the Ports of Ashburton, Cape Preston West, Dampier and Varanus Island.
All recreational vessel owners must safely secure their vessels for cyclonic conditions.
For specific information regarding your location, please refer to DFES emergency alerts website.
For the latest cyclone warnings visit www.bom.gov.au/cyclone.
Pilbara Ports created the recreational vessel safety awareness campaign as part of a proactive approach to reduce the number of recreational vessel-related incidents at the Port of Ashburton.
A safety exclusion zone is in place around port facilities. Only commercial vessels conducting business with the port are permitted access to the exclusion zone.
Unauthorised vessels will be asked to leave and/or will be escorted away. Repeat offenders will be reported to the Office of Transport Security and could face a possible infringement and/or prosecution.
The Port of Ashburton is a multi-user port and strategic industrial area which accommodates liquefied natural gas and other hydrocarbon-based processing, and natural gas processing for Western Australia’s domestic gas supply.