TROPICAL Cyclone Kimi is continuing to intensify as she moves slowly south off the North Queensland coast.
The category one system is expected to reach category two strength before crossing the coast between Innisfail and Ingham later tonight or on Tuesday.
But Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Laura Boekel said Kimi's movement was unpredictable and a cyclone watch has been issued for communities between Port Douglas and Ayr, and inland to Mareeba on the Atherton Tablelands.
At 10am Kimi was located about 90 kilometres east of Cairns and 250 kilometres north of Townsville, moving in a southerly directly at about 12km/h.
Ms Boekel said a cyclone warning for gales developing between Port Douglas and Innisfail extending inland to Mareeba and Atherton was in place, with gales extending southwards to Townsville and Ayr on Tuesday depending on the movement of the cyclone.
She said destructive winds of up to 150km/h were possible on the coast between Innisfail and Lucinda in the next 24 hours.
Ms Boekel said Tropical Cyclone Kimi also brings the risk of heavy rainfall for the already saturated northeast tropics for the next couple of days.
"A flood watch is current for the north tropical coast between Cape Flattery and Ingham, as wet catchments are likely to respond quickly to further rainfall," she said.
"This area is likely to be shifted south today, possibly Cairns to Ayr, following updates to the cyclone track.
"Minor to moderate flooding and disruption to transport routes are possible in the flood watch area."
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Queensland's disaster management committee would meet this afternoon to discuss Kimi's potential impact.
"We will be joined by ministers and also relevant mayors in the regions, there's a lot of preparations that have been ongoing at the moment, especially with the local disaster management committees," Ms Palaszczuk said.
The Bureau will be updating the situation every three hours, with the next alert expected at 2pm.
