(Bloomberg) -- A storm developing off Australia’s northern coast has a moderate risk of becoming a tropical cyclone as soon as Friday, in what would be the third cyclone to make landfall in the country in just over two months.

The slow-moving tropical low is expected to bring strong to gale-force winds and heavy rainfall to parts of the Gulf of Carpentaria Thursday night into Friday, according to a notice from the Bureau of Meteorology. 

On Friday, the storm is likely to move southwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria coast before moving inland on Saturday. Over the weekend into next week, it’s expected to move over central Northern Territory into northern Western Australia, the bureau said.

The storm is expected to pass near Glencore Plc’s open cut McArthur River zinc and lead mine in the Northern Territory. The site is currently operating normally, according to spokesman Francis De Rosa.

It comes just days after a severe storm in Victoria, the second-most populous state, left more than half a million people without power, with lightning and strong winds damaging the electricity network. Meanwhile, Queensland state is still struggling to recover from tropical cyclones Kirrily and Jasper, which unleashed widespread flooding, damaging infrastructure and crops. 

--With assistance from Ben Sharples.

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