Tropical Cyclone Neville is brewing over the West Australian coast though residents will be spared as it drifts off the mainland.
The severe weather system is sitting 880km northwest of Exmouth and the Cape Range National Park on the WA north coast.
The Bureau of Meteorology classified Neville as a category three system on Thursday morning.
It is expected to continue to move west across the Indian Ocean and is likely to intensify further over Thursday and Friday.
It is moving southwest at a speed of 18kms per hour.
The BOM said Neville will move over cooler waters over the weekend and is set to weaken as it south.
