High chance of tropical cyclone forming off Qld coast by Sunday

​Queenslanders are being warned the chance of a cyclone forming off the east coast is growing, with the possibility of a system developing as early as Sunday.

If the tropical low forms into a cyclone it could be named Alfred or Bianca. Picture: Windy

Queensland could see a cyclone form off the east coast as early as this Sunday, potentially dumping more rain on flood-ravaged regions.

Morgan Pumpa from the Bureau of Meteorology said Tropical Low U22, just off the Queensland coast, had a high chance of forming into a cyclone by late Sunday.

“It’s currently at a low chance of forming but in the coming days into the weekend we will be watching the possibility of 22U becoming a tropical cyclone,” she said.

The tropical low is just off the Queensland coast and is likely to move in an east-to-southeastern direction over the next seven days, but its trajectory won’t be determined for at least a few days.

“It gets to about a 60 per cent chance of developing into Monday. The seven days after is (when we will learn) just what kind of path it takes,” Ms Pumpa said.

“When people are back to work Monday, we should have a better idea if it hasn’t developed yet. Tropical cyclones can shift, but this has seemed like (the path hasn’t changed) since about 8pm last night. We’ll be watching for that update this afternoon in case it stays the same, but otherwise at the moment late Sunday is when we will have a better idea.”

Tropical low 22U could potentially dump more rain on Queensland's tropical north coast. Picture: BOM

While it’s too early to determine what impact the tropical low could have, there’s a chance the system could dump more rain on the drenched areas along Queensland’s coast.

If the tropical low forms into a cyclone, it could be named either Alfred, the next name in line, or Bianca. On the other side of the country, a second tropical low is developing off the Western Australian coast. If both tropical lows form into cyclones, it’s a matter of which cyclone forms first to determine the name.

For Queensland’s tropical coast there has been an easing of conditions in the flooded areas, but the chance of further rain over this weekend is a possibility.

“We’re not looking at triple digits, but it does seem to be the chance of some showers into the weekend, but only 10mm, 15mm or 20mm, so not huge total really at the moment over the next seven days,” she said.