Tropical Cyclone Nathan began off the far North Queensland coast and traveled towards the coast before turning north then back to the east. Nathan then turned back towards the Queensland coast and developed into a category 4 Severe Tropical Cyclone as it crossed the coast north of cape flattery in the morning of March 20 2015.
Severe TC Nathan degraded to a category 1 Tropical Cyclone as it continued across Cape York Peninsular and into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Nathan then developed into a category 2 cyclone and moved towards the Northern Territory coast, crossing over the top north east corner of the state.
The passage of tropical cyclone Nathan across the Queensland coast forced sea levels to surge above normal along the coast south of Cape Flattery where Nathan made land-fall.
The Storm-Tide gauge at Cooktown recorded a surge of 0.8m as Nathan passed north of the gauge site on the Cooktown Wharf. Nathan's passage coincided with low water so the Storm-tide level may have been higher if passage was at high water.