Heavy rain and flooding continue in Queensland

Australian Community Media

Severe weather warnings in place for parts of northern Queensland.

Transcript

00:00The risk of heavy rainfall has now eased across northwestern parts of Queensland,

00:04but it continues today about the northeast tropical coast. Over the next few days,

00:09we're going to see that risk of heavy falls developing further across far northern Queensland

00:13as well. Let's start though by taking a look at our radar imagery from the last 12 hours or so.

00:20Plenty of showers and thunderstorms still occurring across those northern parts of Queensland,

00:25mostly about the north tropical coast. It is worth noting however that we've seen quite a

00:29bit of clearer air, drier air moving across the northwest, with that risk of heavy falls really

00:35easing as this low pressure trough starts to pull northwards. Now our heaviest rainfall that we've

00:41seen in the 24 hours to nine o'clock Monday morning was really focused between Cairns and Townsville.

00:48Widespread falls of 50 to 100 millimetres, pushing inland across the northern goldfields and upper

00:53flinders as well. The heavier falls were seen between Townsville and Rolling Stone, with one to 200

00:58millimetres seen broadly in the gauges, over 200 millimetres in some spots.

01:04Taking a look at how the rain will play out for the rest of today and into tomorrow, we are likely

01:10to continue to see widespread showers with the risk of heavy falls across parts of the northeast coast

01:16today. It'll be mainly focused between Port Douglas and Eyre, certainly including that area around

01:22Townsville. As we move through the later part of today into tomorrow, we're likely to see this low

01:28pressure trough moving northwards, pushing across the Cape York Peninsula. That means we are likely to

01:34see showers and storms become a little bit more scattered, a little bit less frequent across the

01:39northeast tropical coast, and that immediate risk of heavy falls starting to ease back. At the same time,

01:46we will continue to see much more isolated showers continuing across the northwest of the state as

01:51well. However, even in these places where the rain might start to ease off, we will continue to see

01:58riverine flooding. Our flood warnings current at 10 o'clock on Monday morning show widespread minor to

02:05major flooding across those western and northern parts of Queensland. We can see that some of those minor

02:12flood warnings actually push all the way towards the northeast coast as well. In particular, though,

02:17we're focusing on our areas of major flooding at the moment. That includes the Flinders River and the

02:22Western River. We are currently seeing major flooding occurring on the Flinders River at Richmond and

02:28Walkers Bend and on the Western River at Winton. We may also see possible further rises with the arrival of

02:35upstream flows. As we move into Wednesday and Thursday, we are likely to see monsoonal flow

02:43strengthening across far northern Queensland. We can see that as our monsoon trough, this dot dash dot

02:49line on our map starts to return. It's going to draw in significant moisture and feed it into the risk of

02:56heavy falls across those far northern parts of Queensland through the later part of this week. So from

03:02Wednesday into Thursday in particular, but continuing into Friday as well. Of course, we may continue to

03:09see those showers and risk of locally heavy falls pushing down the northeast tropical coast too. But the

03:15focus is really going to be around this monsoonal trough further north. Now we can see this if we take a

03:20look at our rainfall totals from midnight last night, all the way out to 11 o'clock on Friday. As you can see,

03:27widespread rainfall accumulations of one to 150 millimetres or more are expected over the next

03:34few days across those far northern parts of Queensland. They could push down that coast

03:40towards Townsville as well, but for once they are much less likely across the northwestern and northern

03:46interior of the state. Now, as always at this time, there are a few key impacts we need to keep in mind.

03:53Firstly, the risk of flash flooding with those heavy falls could threaten property and even life,

03:59depending on where they occur and how quickly that rain comes down. We are likely to see further road

04:05closures and continued community isolation where the riverine flooding is at its worst. And of course,

04:11we will continue to see agricultural impacts and a risk to livestock continuing as those cool,

04:17wet conditions persist in some parts. As this situation continues with that rain shifting north,

04:25it is essential to stay up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings via the Bureau's website,

04:30the BOM Weather app and via our social media. Stay safe and we will catch you next time.

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