At 10am (AEST) on Saturday, Tropical Cyclone Anthony, a category one system, was about 910 kilometres east northeast of Townsville and is expected to cross land on Sunday.
Meanwhile, it's feared a second cyclone, named Yasi, will develop from an intense tropical low currently near Fiji and hit the Queensland coast next Thursday.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Queensland's top emergency officials upgraded their geography warning on Saturday afternoon.
The area of concern now extends 1700 kilometres from Cooktown down to Hervey Bay, including several major population centres - Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone and Bundaberg.
State disaster management coodinator Ian Stewart urged people living in these areas to prepare.
"The reason we are considering this broader area, is to ensure that the preparations of the community and emergency service personnel are adequate for Tropical Cyclone Anthony ... and a further cyclone Yasi, later in the week," he told reporters in Brisbane on Saturday.
"We obviously are concerned about having two cyclones so close together ... (this) will (bring) significant localised flooding."
Weather double whammy
Mr Stewart said emergency resources were being deployed to north and central Queensland ahead of the potential weather double whammy.
"The Queensland Fire and Rescue authority have already made arrangements to pre-deploy urban search and rescue and some swift water rescue experts and equipment," he said.
"The Queensland Police Service is looking at its air assets and where they will be stationed."
Mr Stewart urged caution over speculation cyclone Yasi could be a category five system.
"We're a long way out from seeing what Yasi will become," he said.
"We have to be careful not to panic the community in relation to claims it could be a category five."
'Calmly make arrangements'
Mr Stewart asked people to calmly prepare and make arrangements for their families.
"The clear message is to stock up on essential goods, make sure they have batteries, transistor radio, adequate food and drinking water for a couple of days," he said.
"But we ask people not to panic buy ... this is just a normal stock up of supplies.
"Secure any items around their residences that could become missiles."
People should keep an eye on cyclone developments thorough he media, he said.
"Asking people to stock up on essential items for that large area is not unreasonable at this stage ... we will have significant warning time to narrow down the areas of impact," he said.
He said it was too early to tell how much rainfall Cyclone Anthony could deliver.
The bureau of meteorology has a cyclone watch current.
It says Cyclone Anthony is slow moving and expected to turn to the southwest Saturday gradually intensifying.
