Tropical low sitting off the North West

A tropical low sitting off the North West coast is a chance of hitting the Pilbara coast by the end of the week.

The low is currently 700 kilometres north north west of Broome and is forecast to move south towards the Pilbara coast over the next few days.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned there is a high chance of the low reaching cyclone strength on Thursday and could hit the central or west Pilbara coast late on Thursday or Friday this week.

If a cyclone were to form, it would be named Caleb.

It has been a big wet season for the North West, with deluges across the region filling rivers, getting waterfalls flowing and providing relief for pastoralists.

Karratha has recorded 388.8mm of rain in the 2016/17 wet season to date, making it the sixth wettest on record with more than one month still to come.