Communities in Far North Queensland are bracing for damaging winds and possible flooding as Tropical Cyclone Jasper approaches the coast. Jasper is expected to re-intensify to a category 2 system before making landfall on December 13, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. It's expected the cyclone will likely cross the Queensland coast between Cape Flattery and Cardwell, an area including the towns of Mission Beach, Cairns and Port Douglas. A Tropical Cyclone Watch has been issued by the Bureau for an extended stretch of the coast from Cape Melville down to Townsville. Communities in the watch zone are warned of damaging winds of 90 km/hr, heavy rainfall with the risk of causing flooding, and a storm tide with large waves possible of causing minor flooding along the foreshore. A severe weather warning for damaging winds averaging 60 to 70 km/hr has been issued for the coastline south of the watch area, between Mackay and Ayr, for December 11. Jasper is about 600km east of Cairns and has weakened over the weekend from a severe category 4 to a category 1 system, as of 4am AEST on December 11. But the cyclone is expected to re-intensify on December 12 to a category 2 before it impacts the coast on December 13, according to the Bureau. If it moves more slowly than expected and arrives overnight on December 13 or 14, there is a chance of Jasper crossing the coast as a severe category 3 system. Jasper will weaken as it moves inland on December 14 across the Cape York Peninsula, but could re-intensify into a tropical cyclone over the Gulf of Carpentaria later in the week. It's the first tropical cyclone of the season in Australia's Area of Responsibility, and the first to cross the Queensland coast in several years. In Australia the tropical cyclone season is from November 1 to April 30. The most cyclone-prone area is the WA coast between Broome and Exmouth, but northern Queensland and the Northern Territory are also often impacted. There were six tropical cyclones during the 2022-23 season. The last for the season was Severe Tropical Cyclone Ilsa which crossed over the Western Australian coast at Pardoo, 150km north of Port Hedland as a category five system in April. The Bureau will issue warnings every three hours with the latest information as Jasper approaches the Queensland coast. Keep updated with cyclone warnings at bom.gov.au/qld/warnings