Communities in Western Australia's Kimberley have been urged to prepare for dangerous weather after Tropical Cyclone Wallace developed nearly 300 kilometres off the north-west coast.
The low-pressure system intensified into a cyclone on Saturday morning, moving west at nine kilometres per hour.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) downgraded its warning from a blue alert to an all clear, saying Wallace was tracking well off the coast and was no longer a threat to coastal communities between Kalumburu and Beagle Bay.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said Wallace was expected to track in a south-westerly direction towards the Pilbara and to strengthen over the weekend.
"Saturday is probably the greatest risk period for impacts due to this system," meteorologist Jim Richardson said.
"We're likely to see pretty windy conditions along the northern Kimberley, especially along the coast.
"We'll also see some showers and thunderstorms as well, again mostly in the northern Kimberley, and there could be a few gusty storms.
"As the system moves west to south-west, conditions sort of ease a little."
"We are expecting [the cyclone] to intensify, so moving into a category two system possibly by the end of today and a category three system possibly by the end of tomorrow — but continuing to track away from the coast," Mr Richardson said.
Wallace is predicted to track off the WA coast, but BOM said there was a slight chance that it could approach the Pilbara in the middle of next week.
Cyclone Wallace comes just weeks after Cyclone Veronica hit the region, bringing damaging winds and heavy rainfall.
