State braces for days of cyclonic weather

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The tropical low was situated approximately 315km northwest of Broome as of Tuesday night.

The Bureau of Meteorology says it's expecting the low to strengthen over the next couple of days and potentially cross the east Pilbara or west Kimberley coast as a severe tropical cyclone, likely to be named Zelia.

“The cyclone is forecast to intensify to a category two by Thursday, and then reach category three by Friday.”

The BOM warned "gales with damaging wind gusts" of up to 120km/h may develop along the coast from Broome (excluding Broome) and Port Hedland on Wednesday.

These damaging winds might stretch as far west as Dampier on Thursday, if the system's direction holds.

Flash flooding is likely to occur along the coast between Port Hedland and Bidyadanga, which is just south of Broome, due to heavy rainfall, and the risk of flooding may extend to areas inland.

Once the system develops into a category three cyclone on Friday, it could reach wind speeds of up to 200km/h.

“It’s still a bit unclear at the moment, but we’re expecting the centre of the system to be somewhere between Port Hedland and Bidyadanga by Friday,” Mr Boterhoven said.

“We're anticipating between 200-300 millimetres of rain at the system's centre, depending on its movement speed.”

Residents between De Grey and Bidyadanga have been specifically warned about the potential for a strong storm tide as the cyclone makes landfall.

The BOM has told people living in these areas to get ready to follow evacuation instructions if told to do so by the authorities.

A flood warning has also been issued for the Pilbara and western Kimberley regions.

It follows weeks of extreme weather events on the east coast of Australia, which saw severe thunderstorms hit New South Wales and flooding in Queensland.