The Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation has declared Cyclone Errol a covered event after the system intensified to category 4 strength and reversed track to head towards the WA coastline.

The cyclone was about 465km northwest of Broome today and moving east-southeast at 6km/h, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

The bureau issued a warning for the Kimberley coast from Kuri Bay to near Broome.  

Meteorologist Angus Hine says Errol went from category 2 to category 4 severe tropical cyclone status through yesterday afternoon and evening.

It is now moving into conditions less favourable for sustaining strength.

“We will probably start to see Errol drop down through the category numbers in the next couple of days,” he said.

A track map has the storm brushing the tip of the Dampier Peninsula as a category 1 cyclone late tomorrow night and easing to a tropical low as it passes north of Derby on Saturday.

Mr Hine says rainfall totals of 100mm to 200mm are possible and there may be higher-intensity pockets.

Errol is the 11th tropical cyclone in the Australian area of responsibility this season – the highest number since 2019.

The bureau notifies the ARPC within 24 hours of observing that a cyclone exists and is likely to affect part of Australia. The reinsurance period then continues until 48 hours after the cyclone ends.

The bureau says a tropical low in the northeastern Arafura Sea is forecast to move towards the Gulf of Carpentaria from today and has a low chance of developing into a cyclone from Friday night through to Monday.