English: A pair of severe tropical cyclones rocked northern Australia in late March 2019.

Cyclone Trevor blew across the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, on March 20 as a Category 3 storm. It first weakened but has intensified again to a Category 4 storm over the warm waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Trevor is predicted to make a second landfall on March 23, bringing intense winds, a strong storm surge and widespread rainfall between 100 and 200 mm (4-8 inches) or more to much of the Northern Territory. Because of Trevor’s destructive potential, the government of the Northern Territory declared a state of emergency and launched the largest evacuation in the state since 1974.

While Trevor takes aim at northeastern Australia, Cyclone Veronica is approaching the northwestern coast of Pilbara, Western Australia. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) as of 9:02 a.m. EDT (9:02 p.m. AWST local time) on March 22, Severe Tropical Cyclone Veronica was a Category 4 storm on the Australia scale. The storm was carrying sustained winds of 175 km per hour (109 mph) and was centered near 17.9 degrees south latitude and 116.9 degrees east longitude, or about 315 km (196 mi) north or Karratha.

The report also noted that Severe Tropical Cyclone Veronica was moving slowly southwards towards the Pilbara coast. On Saturday, March 23 it is expected to take a more southeast track and then reach the coast late on March 23 or March 24. The ABM is expected a “severe coastal impact” when Veronica makes landfall.

On March 22, 2019, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of Tropical Cyclone Veronica approaching the Pilbara coast. The large storm has a cloud-filled eye and the leading edge of the storm bands of the southeast quadrant are beginning to affect the coastal area.