Tropical cyclone Jasper: Queensland urged to ‘get prepared’ as hurricane-force winds and heavy rain forecast

Category three cyclone, which is moving through Coral Sea, predicted to hit Queensland coast next week

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Australia's first tropical cyclone of the season has officially formed and rapidly become severe, , with forecasts predicting it to hit the Queensland coast by next week.

Cyclone Jasper was sitting at a category one on Wednesday morning and rapidly escalated into a category three by late afternoon. It was expected to continue escalating as it tracked through the Coral Sea into Thursday.

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