Pilbara Ports Authority has cleared the West Australian ports Dampier and Ashburton of all large vessels, in expectation of a cyclone which is forecast to reach the area Thursday morning, local time.
As of 8.00 am local time today, a tropical low was located some 545 kilometres north of Karratha and 700 kilometres N/NE of Exmouth.
The low is likely to continue to develop in the next 24 hours and could reach cyclone intensity Thursday morning.
At this stage, there has been no impact to operations at the port of Port Hedland.