Cyclone Narelle is done with the Australian coast — but it left Exmouth looking, in the words of Shire President Matthew Niikkula, like "a war zone." The system made its third and final Australian landfall just south of Coral Bay at Category 3 intensity on 27 March 2026, crossing a coast that had watched it approach for days, before weakening to a tropical low early Saturday morning northeast of Kalbarri. The damage it left in Exmouth has shut the town off from the outside world.

The airport at Learmonth is the most visible casualty. DFES Commissioner Darren Klemm confirmed at a media conference on 29 March that Learmonth Airport — the only commercial airport serving Exmouth and the gateway for emergency supplies and medical evacuations — had sustained "significant damage to the terminal" that would likely prevent civilian use for "the next few days" at minimum. Shire President Niikkula was blunter. "The apron and the domestic terminal have been obliterated," he told ABC Radio Perth. Teams were working to assess and clear the runway, but with the only sealed road to Exmouth also impassable from flooding and storm damage, the town of roughly 2,800 people was, briefly, cut off on every front.

A storm that kept rebuilding

Narelle's journey to the WA coast was unusual in the historical record. The system first crossed Cape York Peninsula as a Category 4 cyclone on approximately 20 March, then made a second landfall in the northeastern Northern Territory on about 21 March as Category 3. Both landfalls prompted major evacuations and flooding. Narelle then weakened over land, re-entered the Indian Ocean, and rebuilt. According to NASA Earth Observatory data, only Cyclone Ingrid in 2005 made comparable multi-state landfalls at serious intensity across Queensland, the NT, and WA within a single event. That context matters: Narelle arrived at the Gascoyne coast in far better condition than trans-continental cyclones typically manage, because the Indian Ocean sea surface temperatures west of WA were well above the 26°C threshold needed to sustain tropical intensity, based on BOM climate monitoring data.

The synoptic setup that allowed Narelle to rebuild so effectively was the late-season monsoon trough still positioned across northern Australia in late March. BOM's tropical climate monitoring shows the monsoon trough has remained anomalously active and south of its climatological average this season, providing sustained low-level convergence and moisture that fed Narelle's re-intensification over the Indian Ocean. Low vertical wind shear along its track — the absence of upper-level winds that would tear a cyclone apart — gave the system a largely unobstructed path to major intensity before mid-latitude westerlies finally began interacting with it and curving it southward. That same baroclinic interaction, the standard mechanism that recurves mature cyclones, was what eventually steered Narelle down the WA coast rather than punching straight inland.

"We've had reports of multiple roof losses, torn off houses... This is the most scary thing in a very long time." — Matthew Niikkula, Shire of Exmouth President

What the instruments recorded

Learmonth's automatic weather station, the closest surface observation to the crossing point, recorded gusts around 200 km/h (108 knots) as Narelle passed the North West Cape — before the Gascoyne landfall itself. At that stage the system was still operating at near-Category 4 intensity. BOM's pre-landfall forecast had maximum gusts up to 275 km/h (148 knots) close to the centre. By the time Narelle crossed south of Coral Bay at approximately 09:30 AWST on 27 March, it had moderated to Category 3, with 10-minute sustained winds around 140 km/h and gusts up to roughly 195 km/h (105 knots), according to tracking data from The Watchers cyclone monitor. That is still deep inside the "very destructive" wind threshold set by BOM — the same category that destroyed much of Darwin in Cyclone Tracy.

The rain came in extraordinary volumes. Learmonth recorded more than 300 mm overnight on 27 March, according to BOM data cited by ABC News. Broader Gascoyne region totals were up to 100 mm across the night, per SBS News. Those volumes, concentrated over the narrow catchments feeding into coastal flats and the Gascoyne River system, drove the flash flooding that cut the North West Coastal Highway across a 400 km stretch after culverts were washed out near Billabong Roadhouse, according to DFES. The storm surge pushed through Exmouth's canal system into residential areas, flooding homes that the wind alone had not reached.

Exmouth on the ground

Four structures have been confirmed destroyed and 27 damaged in Exmouth as of 29 March, with more than 2,000 homes still being assessed, according to official counts cited by multiple news outlets. Approximately 50 people had to abandon one Exmouth evacuation centre mid-storm after it lost part of its roof, and relocated. Around 40 people sheltered overnight at the main centre. No deaths have been confirmed from the Gascoyne crossing. DFES Commissioner Klemm confirmed "no reports of injuries" at his 29 March media briefing. The 29 SES assistance requests from Exmouth and nearly 40 from across the broader Pilbara region understate what was a widespread structural damage event — most requests reflect properties with roof loss or structural compromise rather than trapped or injured persons.

BOM meteorologist James Ashley, in a statement as conditions were still affecting Exmouth, confirmed the town's exposure was not brief: "Conditions in the town deteriorated on Thursday evening and there are still a few more hours to go before conditions significantly improve in Exmouth." Wheatstone LNG, Chevron's offshore platform around 225 km from the WA coast near Onslow, ceased all operations at 12:00 AWST on 26 March as Narelle approached and had confirmed equipment damage by 29 March. Chevron said in a public statement: "The Wheatstone gas facility near Onslow has had equipment damage from the severe weather, which has impacted restart activities," adding it would be "a number of weeks" before the site returns to full production. One of Gorgon LNG's three trains also went offline during the event but had returned to full production by 29 March. Analyst Saul Kavonic of MST Marquee estimated more than 30 million tonnes per year of Australian LNG supply was disrupted by the event.

The NT follow-on no one expected

Narelle's rainfall over the upper Katherine River catchment, dropped during its NT passage on 21–22 March, arrived in Katherine township nearly a week later — a textbook "blue sky flood." The Katherine River at the Highlevel Bridge gauge climbed to 17.53 m and was still rising toward a forecast peak of approximately 17.6 m on Thursday 27 March, according to BOM flood warnings and reports from Katherine Times. Florina Road was cut with more than 1.6 m of water across the surface. The Stuart Highway north of Katherine was again flooded. The Kalano community and the Big 4 Caravan Park at the Low Level crossing on Zimin Drive inundated again, just weeks after the river's worst peak since at least 2006: a 19.2 m flood on 7 March that closed Katherine Hospital and required mass evacuations. The 17.6 m second peak compares unfavourably to a flood level that had already forced the hospital to close and establish a portable field hospital in its grounds.

That comparison is the non-obvious detail in Narelle's damage story. A 17.6 m river peak in Katherine would normally be treated as a major flood event requiring its own emergency management response. In the context of the March season, it arrived as Katherine was still in active recovery from the 19.2 m peak, with repair works incomplete, temporary infrastructure in place, and communities in a degraded state of flood resilience. The compounding effect of two major flood peaks within three weeks — the second triggered by a cyclone making landfall 2,500 km away — represents an unusual convergence of events that BOM's seasonal forecast models had not explicitly flagged as likely in this form.

What this means for WA coastal users right now

Exmouth, Onslow, and the Pilbara coast remain effectively inaccessible by road as of 29 March. The North West Coastal Highway closure across 400 km means there is no land route to Exmouth until flood waters recede and damaged culverts are assessed. Learmonth Airport has no confirmed reopening date. For charter operators based in Exmouth — one of Australia's most productive offshore fishing hubs, with year-round access to the Ningaloo Reef and offshore seamounts — the immediate problem is not weather but logistics: fuel, crew, and client access are all constrained by the infrastructure shutdown. Any bookings for the Exmouth region over the coming week should be treated as uncertain until DFES and Main Roads WA confirm road and airport status.

The Gascoyne River at Carnarvon will rise through the early part of this week as Narelle's rainfall in the upper catchment — Carnarvon sits at the river mouth and drains a large inland area — runs through the system. Banana and fruit plantations east of Carnarvon sustained confirmed damage, according to DFES Commissioner Klemm. The Carnarvon boat harbour and the Monkey Mia and Denham foreshores in Shark Bay appear to have "escaped unscathed in terms of structural damage," per official statements, but river-mouth conditions and any residual flood discharge from the upper Gascoyne will affect fishing and boating access to the lower river over the coming days. Check Seabreeze marine forecasts for the Gascoyne and Shark Bay regions as conditions settle.

For the rest of the WA coast — including the Mid West from Geraldton south, and the Perth metropolitan coast — Narelle's passage will deliver a sequence of elevated southerly swells generated by the post-tropical system's circulation. Surf beaches from Geraldton to Perth can expect irregular, mixed-period swell through the coming days as the energy propagates south. The residual threat to coastal infrastructure in the cyclone zone recedes as the system weakens, but the practical effects on access, accommodation, and fishing logistics in the Gascoyne, Pilbara, and Exmouth regions will persist well beyond the event itself. Active warnings for affected areas are listed on the Seabreeze warnings page.

FAQ

Is Exmouth accessible right now? No. As of 29 March, the only sealed road connecting Exmouth to the broader highway network was impassable due to flooding and storm damage, and Learmonth Airport was not cleared for commercial flights. DFES and Main Roads WA are the authoritative sources for reopening timelines.

What happened at Wheatstone LNG? Chevron's Wheatstone facility near Onslow, one of Australia's largest LNG export operations, shut down fully before Narelle's approach and has confirmed equipment damage. Chevron stated on 29 March it would be "a number of weeks" before full production resumes.

Was anyone killed? No deaths were confirmed from Narelle's Gascoyne crossing as of 29 March, according to DFES Commissioner Darren Klemm. No serious injuries were reported at the same briefing.

What about Carnarvon and Shark Bay? Both appear to have avoided significant structural damage from Narelle, based on official statements as of 29 March. The Gascoyne River at Carnarvon will rise over the coming days as upstream rainfall runs through. River-mouth conditions will affect boating access to the lower Gascoyne through the early part of the week.

How does this compare to Seroja (2021)? Cyclone Seroja crossed the WA coast as a Category 3 system on 11 April 2021, causing widespread destruction across Kalbarri, Northampton, and Geraldton. Narelle's intensity profile at the Gascoyne coast was comparable. Where the events differ is track: Seroja's damage was concentrated in the Mid West, while Narelle's primary impact zone was the Pilbara coast and Exmouth area, with the Mid West largely spared structural damage. The Exmouth airport loss, an infrastructure casualty Seroja did not produce, is the distinguishing consequence of this event.