Australia braces for Fina as one of its earliest cyclones on record
Tropical Cyclone Fina is a Category 2 storm churning over the water off the Australia coast, barrelling down on the Northern Territory for a landfall later this week or on the weekend.
The first cyclone of the Australian season, Tropical Cyclone Fina, has been named.
One of the earliest on record, Fina is forecast to become a Category 2 and impact the northern part of Australia later this week.
Expect a landfall on around Nov. 21 or 22 as it hops onto land near Cobourg, enters the Van Diemen Gulf and potentially makes a second landfall near Darwin or the Tiwi Islands.
The last time a tropical cyclone impacted Australia this early was in 1973.
According to local media outlets, authorities urged Top End residents to finalize their emergency cyclone plans ahead of the system's expected landfall.
The earliest cyclone in a season to directly impact Australia was severe Tropical Cyclone Ines, which crossed the northern Kimberley coast on Nov. 21, 1973, according to From Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BOM). Ines was named Nov. 17 that year.
Also, there was notable Cyclone Alessia, which made landfall in the Northern Territory on Nov. 28, 2013.