Cyclone Ului may move towards coast

THE Bureau of Meteorology says it is difficult to predict the long term movement of Ului, but it may move back towards the Queensland coast later this week.

“At this stage the most likely scenario is for Severe Tropical Ului to turn in a more west to south-westerly track and move closer to the Queensland coast during Friday and over the weekend,” the Bureau of Meteorology said today.

“Even with the cyclone remaining offshore, rough seas and large swells are expected to develop about the southern Queensland coastline by the weekend.”

At 4am, TROPICAL Cyclone Ului was category four, about 1330km northeast of Mackay, and was travelling in a west south-west direction at a speed of 4km per hour.

A gale warning is in place for coastal areas between Cooktown and Burnett Heads, with south easterly winds of 25 to 33 knots expected to gradually increase to 30 to 35 knots by this afternoon.

Scattered showers are forecast for coastal areas in the Capricornia region around Rockhampton.