An emergency storm tide alert has been issued for parts of Townsville's waterfront as an extensive storm bears down on north Queensland.
There is a cyclone warning current for every town and city between Port Douglas and Mackay as the huge tropical low barrels towards the coast.
The system, about 590km northeast of Townsville, is forecast to form into a cyclone before it makes landfall tomorrow.
The Bureau of Meteorology is warning people to batten down as the storm is likely to bring heavy rain and a dangerous storm surge and pack winds of up to 120km/h.
A king tide as high as 4.12m is forecast to hit the coast on the same morning the storm reaches land.