UPDATED 5:15 AEST/8:15 NZDT — Kimi has been downgraded to an ex-tropical cyclone just north east of Townsville.

As WeatherWatch.co.nz reported yesterday Kimi is expected to run into high pressure (which lies further south of the storm) and this will pull the low apart.

It was expected Kimi would lose its technical tropical cyclone status today and become a tropical depression. This basically means it has lost much of the wind intensity and is now becoming a rain event – and even then it’s not too major.

The weakening low is likely to meander and may even do a U turn and end up tracking back north into Cairns.

This means those between Port Douglas and Townsville may be impacted by some flooding, coastal erosion and rough seas.

Having Kimi weakening at sea today is a positive, even if the forecast looks like more rain the totals aren’t too major.

Keep up to date with the latest official warnings and tracking from BoM.