News

Relentless rainfall soaking northeast Queensland, more to come

Intense rain will continue to soak parts of central and northeast Queensland over the next 24 hours, causing flooding in some areas.

A deep layer of moisture-laden winds feeding into a low pressure trough have caused sustained and heavy rainfall along Qld’s eastern tropical coast over the last couple of days. This rain is expected to continue and possibly intensify further on Friday into Saturday morning as a low pressure system forms near the coast.

Image: Visible satellite and radar images showing thick cloud and rain over Qld on Friday morning.

The 24 hours to 9am on Friday saw widespread rainfall totals of 100 to 200 mm being recorded from Mackay up to Cairns. Some rain gauges along this stretch reported preliminary 24-hour totals in excess of 400 mm. Here are some of the standout totals in the 24 hours to 9am on Friday:

• 460 mm at O’Connell, near Proserpine
• 243 mm at Stafford Crossing, near Proserpine
• 204 mm at Proserpine Airport – wettest December day in 34 years
• 173 mm at Cairns Airport
• 111 mm at Townsville – wettest December day in six years

Rain will continue to drench Qld’s eastern tropical coast and adjacent inland between about Cairns and Mackay on Friday into Saturday morning. This heavy rain is likely to cause flash flooding, with six-hourly rainfall rates expected to reach 150 to 250 mm in some places. As this rain will be falling onto already saturated ground, flooding is likely.

Image: Forecast accumulated rain on Friday and Saturday combined, according to the ECMWF-HRES model.

While rivers in this part of Qld are able to cope with hefty injections of water, there could be enough rain to cause minor to major flooding in some places. A number of flood warnings and a flood watch are in place and these will be updated as hydrologists get more accurate information from rain and river gauges in the region.

At this stage, rain should ease on Saturday afternoon and evening as the low pressure system starts to move away from the coast. However, these tropical rain-bearing lows are notoriously difficult to predict, so this forecast may change in the next 24 hours.

Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings for the most accurate information on this evolving weather event in Qld.