Monsterorkaan Yasi op weg naar Queensland, Australie

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A cyclone described as a "monster, killer storm" is bearing down on Cairns, with communities far to the north, south and west of the northern Queensland tourist centre also braced for its fury.

The latest modelling suggests Cyclone Yasi is on track to hit Cairns about 1am (AEST) on Thursday as a highly destructive category four storm with winds above 250km/h.

The Australian Defence Force has been called in to evacuate hundreds of patients from two Cairns hospitals.

And residents in low-lying areas have been told to abandon their homes with a storm surge of up to two metres expected in parts of Cairns, including the CBD.

Premier Anna Bligh says Yasi is so powerful that communities hundreds of kilometres away from where it crosses the coast will experience category one and two-type conditions.

"It's such a big storm, it's a monster killer storm, that it's not just about where this crosses the coast that is at risk," Ms Bligh said on Tuesday.

The volatile nature of cyclones means there's no guarantee Cairns will be ground zero. So far it's the Bureau of Meteorology's best guess, and it's where the most serious preparations are being made.

Communities as far north as Cooktown and as far south as Townsville have also been warned Yasi could hit them.

BOM senior forecaster Ann Farrell told AAP Yasi was continuing to intensify and she could not rule out the chance of it reaching category five.

"It is possible it could reach category five intensity, and that would push winds up to around the 300km/h mark," Ms Farrell said.

Yasi, which on Tuesday afternoon was a category three, is expected to take some time to die out after crossing the coast, with a firm monsoon pattern expected to continue feeding it once it's over land.

Bureau senior forecaster Gordon Banks warned cyclonic conditions may be seen far inland, possibly as far west as Mt Isa near the Northern Territory border.

"Certainly for north Queensland, we need to prepare for the eventuality of something really significant heading into areas that may not have seen this before," he told AAP.

Yasi is expected to be Queensland's worst cyclone, covering something approaching twice the physical size of Cyclone Larry, which devastated Innisfail in 2006 and left a $1.5 billion damage bill.

With such a large, powerful system in play, much of the north Queensland coast is preparing for dangerous storm surges.

Residents as far away as Townsville, Ingham and the Whitsunday resort islands are evacuating properties on the back of warnings from authorities.

Ms Bligh said mandatory evacuation orders were being given in council areas from Cook to Hinchinbrook for people in flood-risk areas.

In Cairns alone, about 9000 people will be evacuated, mostly to family and friends but six evacuation centres have been set up in and around the city to accommodate people who have nowhere to go.

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Op dinsdag 1 februari 2011 12:18 schreef Frutsel het volgende:

Satellite & Radar Timelapse - Tropical Cyclone Yasi (Update 1)

waanzinnig om te zien hoe dat ding zich heeft ontwikkeld

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Op dinsdag 1 februari 2011 14:25 schreef meteo-online het volgende:
Mogelijk dat Yasi even een cat 5 cycloon wordt:

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3127339.htm

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24 HRS, VALID AT:
021200Z --- 17.1S 146.2E
MAX SUSTAINED WINDS - 130 KT, GUSTS 160 KT
WIND RADII VALID OVER OPEN WATER ONLY