Weather News

Tropical Cyclone Iggy strengthens

Tropical Cyclone Iggy is continuing to intensify as it moves towards the WA coastline and should reach category four strength within the next 48 hours.

At 8:00am WST this morning, Iggy was a category two tropical cyclone located around 380km northwest of Exmouth, moving towards the coast at approximately 9 km/h.

The system is expected to steadily intensify as it continues to approach the western Pilbara region and should become a category four Severe Tropical Cyclone by Monday morning.

Persistent onshore winds to the east of Iggy have been generating a band of heavy rain and thunderstorms along the entire northern coastline of WA, stretching into the NT's Darwin-Daly district.

The heaviest rainfall over the 24 hours to 9am this morning occurred along the Kimberley coastline of WA. Cygent Bay received 180mm taking their accumulated total over the last three days to 558mm. Lombadina managed to record 137mm and Kuri Bay saw 106mm, which was the heaviest rain since last January.

As Iggy approaches the coast, the heaviest rain is expected to impact the Pilbara coastline over the weekend, and Gale force winds could develop between Coral Bay and Mardie within the next 24 hours.

Check www.weatherzone.com.au for the latest cyclone information and weather warnings.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2012

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