Cyclone Monica to hit FNQ coast

by Sail-World & BOM on 19 Apr 2006 Cyclone Monica is intensifying and expected to strike the far north Queensland coast this afternoon. Monica follows category five Cyclone Larry, which devastated the Innisfail region on March 20.

At 11.30 am EST, Severe Tropical Cyclone Monica, Category 3, was centred near
latitude 13.0 south longitude 144.0 east, 55 kilometres east of Lockhart River.
The cyclone is moving in a general west to southwest direction around 18 km/h.

Destructive wind with gusts above 130 km/h are now developing on the exposed
coast between Cape Grenville and Port Stewart. Gales are expected to develop
across other coastal areas between Torres Strait and Cape Melville.

The very destructive core of Monica with wind gusts increasing up to 220 km/hr
is expected to cross the coast near Cape Sidmouth about mid afternoon.

Tropical Cyclone Monica is expected to continue moving westwards across Cape York Peninsula later today and into the Gulf of Carpentaria early on Thursday. Gales may develop about the Northern Territory coast between Groote Eylandt and Elcho Island, including Nhulunbuy, late Thursday night.

Coastal residents between Cape Grenville and Cape Melville are specifically warned of the dangerous storm tide as the cyclone crosses the coast. The sea is likely to rise steadily up to a level significantly above the normal tide, with damaging waves and flooding of some low-lying areas extending some way inland.

At 5.00am this morning Monica was still a category three cyclone, Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) senior forecaster Geoff Doueal said. 'I don't know that it will be upgraded soon, but it's certainly starting to form an eye so once it does form an eye we may upgrade it to a category four,'