The category two system is expected to cross sometime late Thursday afternoon into the early hours of Friday, between Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast and Coolangatta on the Gold Coast.

Significant damage and power outages are possible in the densely populated region of Queensland, where tropical cyclones impacts are not uncommon, but direct landfalls are.

Damaging winds, heavy rainfall and life-threatening floods are expected after the storm made a sudden shift toward Queensland.