Flood Watch Issued for Cape York Peninsula and North Tropical Coast as Cyclone Narelle Approaches
This alert is no longer in effect.
BOM issued it on April 4, 2026, 4 months ago. Warnings of this kind stay in effect for hours to a few days, so this page is a historical record of what was issued, not a current warning. For conditions where you are right now, check weather.gov (US), weather.gc.ca (Canada), the Met Office (UK), or the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia).
Areazine synthesizes this BoM weather warning directly from BOM's official public data feed. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a flood watch for Far North Queensland, warning of potential major flooding as Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle approaches the coast.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Flood Watch
- Affected area
- Cape York Peninsula and North Tropical Coast, Queensland
- Issued
- April 4, 2026
- Issuing authority
- BOM
Flood notices turn on location and timing. Treat the named area as this record's scope; do not assume nearby counties, parishes, or waterways were included.
Record status: historical. It was issued 4 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Cape York Peninsula and North Tropical Coast, Queensland.
Alert Details
The Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued Flood Watch Number 18 for the Cape York Peninsula and parts of the North Tropical Coast. This alert indicates that minor to moderate flooding is likely, with isolated major flooding possible starting overnight Thursday.
Affected Areas
The watch covers a wide range of catchments across Far North Queensland, including:
- Cape York Peninsula: Jacky Jacky Creek, Olive and Pascoe, Lockhart, Stewart, Normanby, Jeannie, Endeavour, Staaten, Coleman and Edward, Holroyd and Kendall, Archer and Coen, Watson, Embley and Mission, Wenlock, Ducie, Jackson and Skardon, and Jardine Rivers.
- North Tropical Coast: Daintree (including Bloomfield), Mossman, Barron, Mulgrave and Russell, Johnstone, Tully, Murray, and Herbert Rivers.
- Other Regions: Mitchell River (including elevated levels at Magnificent Creek at Kowanyama).
What You Should Do
Residents in the warning areas are urged to take the following safety precautions:
- Do not drive, walk, swim, or play in floodwater as it is dangerous.
- Stay away from flooded drains, rivers, streams, and waterways.
- Obey all road closure signs and plan travel ahead to avoid flooded routes.
- Monitor the ABC and local media for situation updates.
- For emergency assistance, contact the SES at 132 500. In life-threatening emergencies, call 000 immediately.
Expected Conditions
Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is currently located east of the Cape York Peninsula and is moving westwards. As the system approaches, heavy to locally intense rainfall is forecast to develop. Because catchments are already wet or saturated from recent rainfall, river levels are expected to respond quickly. Disruption to transport routes is likely. Widespread minor to major flooding is already occurring across other parts of Queensland.
Timeline
The alert was issued at 1:37 pm AEST on Thursday, March 19, 2026. Rainfall and subsequent flooding are expected to intensify overnight Thursday. Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is forecast to cross the coast during Friday, March 20. The Bureau of Meteorology expects to issue the next update by 2:00 pm AEST on Friday.
Original source: BOM Official Notice ↗
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