A potential tropical cyclone brewing in the Indian Ocean could hit Western Australia's Pilbara coast earlier than expected.
The Bureau of Meteorology says a low, forming south of Indonesia is highly likely to develop into a cyclone by late Wednesday or early Thursday.
"Conditions are favourable out on the ocean, so if it does spend a lot of time out there, we would expect it to become a severe tropical cyclone," senior tropical cyclone forecast Andrew Burton told AAP.
But some computer model forecasts suggest the system could instead make a beeline for the coast and pose a threat to communities sooner, he said.
"That's good and bad," Mr Burton said.
"Obviously there's less time for people and industry to prepare, but ... if that happens, then it's not likely to be anything more than perhaps a category one tropical cyclone."
Mr Burton said the likely impact area is between Karratha and Exmouth, but could stretch as far south as Carnarvon.
Another cyclone is expected to form off Queensland in coming days, promising more wild weather for the state three weeks on from Cyclone Marcia.
A low in the Coral Sea, currently 650km northeast of Cairns, could become a cyclone by Thursday, the BOM says, with gales and heavy rain expected in the far north from Wednesday.
"It's to sit off the coast from Thursday, Friday," forecaster Sam Campbell told the ABC.
"There is a little bit of uncertainty beyond Thursday and Friday about exactly where the system's going to go.
"We can't really speculate beyond that. But certainly it will be moving towards the east coast over coming days, and some gales developing along the coast is quite likely."
Some central Queensland communities are still recovering from severe tropical Cyclone Marcia last month, which destroyed some homes and severely damaged others.
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