Relentless Queensland rain continues this morning Monday, with numerous flood warnings in place, including a major flood warning for the Flinders River in the state’s Gulf Country.  

Rainfall totals in the hundreds of millimetres have already been received at multiple locations, with the strong likelihood that some spots could receive a metre of rain (1000mm) by the time this event is finished.

To put that in perspective, that’s the rough equivalent of Brisbane’s annual average rainfall of 1054.8mm. 

The ongoing deluge is being caused by a large, complex monsoonal low pressure system which some meteorologists call by its unofficial title of a "landphoon".

"A 'landphoon' is a large low pressure system with strong winds which resembles a tropical cyclone over land," Weatherzone meteorologist Joel Pippard explains. 

"The low pressure system forms embedded in the monsoon trough and has winds wrapping into it from both hemispheres, then spinning around it. There’s a huge convergence of tropical air that leads to flooding rainfall and strong, gusty winds."

Rainfall in Queensland from Sunday through to Monday morning was concentrated in two main areas:

The North Tropical Coast and Tablelands forecast district, where 24-hours totals to 9am Monday included:

369mm at South Mission Beach, about two hours south of Cairns

245mm at Bingil Bay, just north of South Mission Beach

228m at Euramo, not far inland from Tully

The Gulf Country and North West forecast districts, where 24-hours totals to 9am Monday included:

313mm at Oakland Park, a large cattle station (Gulf Country)

295mm at Fish Hole Creek (Gulf Country)

238mm at Miranda Downs Station (Gulf Country)

103mm at Snake Creek near Cloncurry (North West)

Many of Monday’s 24-hour rainfall observations for the three forecast districts mentioned were daily records for December. And they came on the back of some records the previous day, as Weatherzone meteorologist Jess Miskelly wrote on Sunday. 

The fact that cattle stations have received so much rain is of particular concern. A similar event in February 2019 caused devastating stock losses totalling hundreds of thousands across Queensland's north.

One of the worst affected areas in that 2019 event was Cloncurry Shire Council. The town of Cloncurry received approximately 450mm in the first five days of the month in the 2019 event. 

Cloncurry has already received almost 300mm over the past six days in the current event, and further heavy rain is expected there for the next two to three days.

It’s worth noting that January and February tend to be much wetter on average for Queensland’s Gulf Country and North West, making this December deluge remarkable not just for rainfall totals, but for its timing relatively early in the wet season.