{"id":677858,"date":"2026-03-24T07:54:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T07:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/677858\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T07:54:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T07:54:19","slug":"tropical-cyclone-narelle-set-to-impact-perth-over-weekend-with-heavy-rainfall-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/677858\/","title":{"rendered":"Tropical Cyclone Narelle set to impact Perth over weekend, with heavy rainfall expected"},"content":{"rendered":"

As ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle continues its epic journey across Australia’s northern coastline, bringing widespread rain and flooding, questions are being asked about just how far south it is heading.<\/p>\n

Cyclones thrive in warm tropical conditions, which means they rarely impact WA’s south west \u2014 but Narelle is behaving a little differently from most.<\/p>\n

Its northern Australian odyssey has already seen it track across northern Queensland and the Northern Territory, and now it’s WA’s turn.<\/p>\n

It crossed the NT-WA border on Monday and Kalumburu, just inside the WA border, received 146.2mm of rain in the 24 hours up to 9am on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Tropical Cyclone Narelle to re-form<\/a><\/p>\n

Kimberley coastal communities brace for cyclone impact.<\/p>\n

It was downgraded from a cyclone to a low on Monday, but that’s expected to change tonight, when strengthening winds are expected to see it form into a cyclone again.<\/p>\n

Now the Bureau of Meteorology is warning it could cause significant impacts to the southern part of the state by the end of the week.<\/p>\n

Could Perth be in the firing line?<\/p>\n

BOM forecaster Jessica Lingard said it was “very uncommon” for cyclones to affect the southern half of WA.<\/p>\n

\"Skyscrapers<\/p>\n

Rain is set to impact the city on the weekend, due to the unusual track of Tropical Cyclone Narelle. (ABC News: Benjamin Gubana)<\/p>\n

“Cyclones take all of their energy from the warm tropical waters, so seeing cyclones come down the west coast is certainly unusual, where the water starts to cool down,” she said.<\/p>\n

But climate change was altering traditional weather patterns, warming oceans in WA’s south.<\/p>\n

This means we could see cyclones affecting Perth and the South West more frequently, Ms Lingard said, most likely in the form of tropical lows and the remnants of cyclones.<\/p>\n

What can Perth expect?<\/p>\n

At the very least, a lot of rain.<\/p>\n

It all comes down to the cyclone’s tracking path and strength, Ms Lingard says.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The rain in Perth is set to begin from Friday. (ABC News: Kenith Png)<\/p>\n

At present the cyclone is set to reach category four by Friday, before potentially crossing the WA coast in the Gascoyne or Mid West regions during the weekend.<\/p>\n

Perth is in for a drenching.<\/p>\n

“At this stage, towards the end of the week, we could be looking at widespread falls on Saturday of between 20 and 50 millimetres of rainfall,” she said.<\/p>\n

That rain will likely continue into Sunday, with another potentially 30 mm fall.<\/p>\n

What about the Wheatbelt and Albany?<\/p>\n

These regions will have seen the effects by Saturday.<\/p>\n

“There’s the potential for higher falls, closer to 60 to 80 millimetres throughout the Central Wheatbelt and the Great Southern,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The forecast track map of Narelle has it impacting towns north of Perth. (Supplied: Bureau of Meteorology)<\/p>\n

Like Perth, these regions will also see widespread rainfall on Sunday, with isolated falls possible of up to 50mm.<\/p>\n

“We need to be paying attention to where this system goes, and that will dictate where the heavier falls are,” Ms Lingard says.<\/p>\n

Have cyclones impacted the South West before?<\/p>\n

Yes, and some of them have caused a lot of damage.<\/p>\n

While Cyclone Seroja in 2018 saved the worst of its fury for Northampton and Kalbarri, where buildings were destroyed and roofs lost, \u00a0Perth did not escape heavy rainfall.<\/p>\n

WA town still recovering from cyclone three years on<\/a><\/p>\n

Kalbarri residents say their recovery from Tropical Cyclone Seroja is ongoing, with many remaining “shaken up” by the disaster.<\/p>\n

Seroja weakened after it crossed the coast but didn’t become a low until it reached the Great Southern town of Dalwallinu.<\/p>\n

Worse was Cyclone Alby in 1978 that killed five people and cut a swathe of destruction through the south west estimated at $50 million.<\/p>\n

The BOM calls it “the most devastating storm on record to affect the southwestern areas of Western Australia”, although it never crossed the coast.<\/p>\n

Alby “caused an almost complete breakdown of electricity services in the metropolitan area and over the South Weest”, with roofs lost in Albany and Wheatbelt farmers losing their crops as topsoil was lifted by strong winds.<\/p>\n

How can I prepare for Narelle?<\/p>\n

Ms Lingard’s advice is to begin the preparations you would normally undertake ahead of the winter storm season now.<\/p>\n

This includes:<\/p>\n