The first severe tropical cyclone of the season is spinning off Australia's northwest coast today.

Tropical Cyclone Claudia developed near the north Kimberley coast late on Saturday night, becoming the second tropical cyclone of the 2019/20 season in Australia's area of responsibility.

After gaining strength as it moved towards the west on Sunday, Claudia became a category three severe tropical cyclone in the early hours of Monday morning. At the time of being classified as a category three cyclone, Claudia was located about 435km to the northwest of Broome.

This is the first severe tropical cyclone (category three or higher) in the Australian region this season. 

Image: Severe Tropical Cyclone Claudia at 7am AWST on Monday, Januray 13th.

Claudia is expected to move towards the west southwest during the next few days, roughly parallel to the northern coastline of Western Australia. This track should keep the system far enough away from land to prevent severe weather from impacting mainland Australia in the coming days. However, strong winds are likely to affect some coastal areas of the Pilbara and West Kimberley on Monday and Tuesday.

Last week, the tropical low pressure system that would soon become Cyclone Claudia caused heavy rain and severe thunderstorms over parts of the Northern Territory's Top End. Dum In Mirrie, located to the west of Darwin, received 562mm of rain during the 24 hours to 9am on Saturday.