End of season cyclone Odette threatens the WA’s North West coast

WA’s North West is bracing for a possible cyclone as a tropical low brews off the coast.

Residents in Exmouth and Carnarvon are being urged to stay up-to-date with weather forecasts over the coming days as the cyclone threat continues.

The tropical low is expected to develop into a cyclone later tonight and will be named Odette.

If the low develops into a cyclone in Indonesian waters, off the coast of Timor Island, it will be named Seroja — meaning lotus flower.

The Weather Bureau said the system is forecast to move south-west and could reach a ‘severe strength’ category three.

“Cyclones that are formed towards the end of the season have a greater chance of becoming severe because they tend to form further in the north, giving them more time to develop,” a Bureau of Meteorology statement said.

The Bureau said the system will most likely remain over water, but there is a possibility it will move towards the Pilbara and upper Gascoyne region later in the week.

One of WA’s worst end-of-season cyclones happened in April 1996 where cyclone Olivia set a world record for wind speed at 408km/h.