Cyclone Ului is expected to head south today, running parallel to the Australian coast and avoiding a potentially destructive course through Queensland.
The category four cyclone moved closer to the Queensland coast overnight but remains 1330 kilometres off Mackay and 1450km from Cooktown, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
It is traveling at 4 kmh, less than half the 10 kmh pace at maintained much of yesterday, but is still causing winds of up to 200 kmh.
Ului continues to head west from the Solomon Islands but is expected to take a southerly track today and maintain that direction until late in the week, the BoM says.
"Severe Tropical Cyclone Ului poses no immediate threat to the Queensland coast and is expected to remain well offshore over the eastern Coral Sea for at least the next few days," the BoM says.
The BoM and Emergency Management Queensland moved yesterday to allay fears the cyclone was on track to crash through North Queensland.
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