Key Points
- The category three storm is expected to hit the NT coast on Monday evening.
- The "destructive" core of the cyclone could bring wind gusts of up to 220 km/h.
- People in the affected areas are being urged to stay indoors.
Tropical Cyclone Megan is affecting the Northern Territory coast as a category three system with concerns it could intensify, bringing 200 km/h winds and hundreds of millimetres of rainfall.
The weather system intensified to a category three on Sunday with the Bureau of Meteorology warning there was a 20 per cent chance of it developing into a category four by Monday night.
"Severe Tropical Cyclone Megan is beginning to impact the southwestern Gulf of Carpentaria coast," the Bureau of Meteorology advised on Sunday evening.
When will Cyclone Megan hit the coast?
The cyclone is forecast to hit the NT coast on Monday evening with a warning area spanning hundreds of kilometres — from Alyangula on Groote Eylandt in the NT to the Queensland border and inland to Borroloola, the McArthur River Mine and Robinson River.
"There is a moderate chance that this system could develop into a category four tropical cyclone," the bureau's Shenagh Gamble said on Sunday.
The bureau said the cyclone would have a "very destructive core" when it makes landfall on Monday, with wind gusts of up to 220km/h expected as it crosses the coast between the Nathan River in the NT and the NT-Queensland border.
The cyclone is forecast to hit the Northern Territory coast on Monday evening with a warning area spanning hundreds of kilometres Source: AAP / Neve Brissenden
Possible rainfall totals of between 150 and 200mm and wind gusts of up to 110 km/h were forecast in the other hundreds of kilometres of warning zone and dozens of towns.
Flood watches are in place for the Carpentaria to Arnhem and Barkly.
The bureau said the flood warnings could expand as the cyclone hits the coast.
'Stay indoors'
It might already be too late for some residents to leave as the cyclone approaches.
"When the tropical cyclone does arrive, we need you to take shelter inside," NT Police Superintendent Sonia Kennon said on Sunday.
"Stay indoors until all clear is given by the authorities."
The weather system is expected to return to a tropical low as it heads further inland on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In January, Queensland was hit by Tropical Cyclone Kirrily, the second tropical cyclone in the area since December, when Cyclone Jasper caused widespread regional damage, including in coastal towns close to the Great Barrier Reef.
