Severe Tropical Cyclone Fina intensified to a category 4 storm on Sunday after passing close to Darwin, and is expected to make landfall over the NE corner of Western Australia on Monday afternoon or evening.

As of 5am (AWST), Fina was located about 95 km/h from the closest point of the WA coastline at Berkeley River Mouth, and was packing sustained winds near the centre of 185 km/h with gusts to 260 km/h.

As Fina continued its relatively slow path towards landfall, the BoM warned that:

• Very destructive wind gusts to 185 km/h may develop over the coastal areas between King George River Mouth and Berkeley River Mouth on Monday afternoon as Fina approaches the coastline.
• Heavy to locally intense rainfall which may lead to flash flooding would develop about the northeast Kimberley coast as early as Monday morning.

Image: Two-hour satellite and radar loop showing Tropical Cyclone Fina as dawn turned to day in far NE Western Australia on Monday, November 24, 2025.

While Fina remains a powerful and potentially destructive cyclone which is expected to cross the coastline as a category 3 storm, there are three main reasons why its damage to human property should be minimal.

1. IT’S A STRONG BUT RELATIVELY SMALL CYLONE: Fina has always been a relatively small cyclone (in terms of area), meaning the zone impacted by cyclonic-strength winds has been constrained to a radius of about 100km from the eye of the storm.
2. FINA WILL MAKE LANDFALL ON A SPARSELY POPULATED AREA OF COASTLINE: While there are some tiny outposts in the area where Fina is likely to make landfall (including the luxury Berkeley River Lodge which is only accessible by air), the only town of note close to the warning zone is Kalumburu (population approx. 400), which is WA’s northernmost town.
3. FINA WILL WEAKEN QUICKLY UPON LANDFALL: Tropical cyclones tend to lose power quickly as they move inland. This is because they rapidly become starved of the warm ocean water which is their fuel.

But Fina will also encounter atmospheric conditions – in the form of high wind shear – which ensure it downgrades quickly to a tropical low.

Wind shear is a difference in wind direction and/or wind speed across a portion of the atmosphere.

Areas of low wind shear enable tropical cyclones to intensify with minimal disruption to their vertical structure. High wind shear does the opposite, effectively tearing the storm apart.

That’s why the latest track map for Fina shows it downgrading to a category 1 storm within 12 hours of making landfall, and a tropical low within 24 hours of landfall.

Image: The latest track map for Severe Tropical Cyclone Fina issued at 5:00am (AWST) on Monday, November 24, 2025. Source: BoM.

Please check the latest warnings for Severe Tropical Cyclone Fina on the Weatherzone tropical cyclone page.