Tropical cyclone Yvette off WA coast

A tropical cyclone has developed off the coast of Western Australia's Pilbara and could reach land over the Christmas weekend, the Bureau of Metereology says.

Yvette, a low-level category one cyclone, is still more than 700km northwest of Karratha and is expected to move down the coast on Thursday.

A series of other weather warnings were issued for the state on Wednesday, including severe weather and flooding in the Kimberley, severe thunderstorms in the Central West, and severe fire weather conditions in Perth.

Rainfalls in excess of 100mm have been recorded in the Kimberley in the past 24 hours, including 203mm at Theda, and a flood warning is in place for the North Kimberley District and Ord River.

On average there are five tropical cyclones in waters off northwest Australia each season, with more cyclone activity expected this season than last, when only one cyclone made landfall in the Pilbara in January.