Weather News

Flooding rain continues in Queensland

Ben Domensino, Wednesday January 29, 2020 - 14:22 AEDT

Rain and thunderstorms have continued to soak northern Queensland during the last 24 hours, with central Australia next in line.

Moisture-laden air feeding into a slow-moving low pressure system produced widespread rain and storms over tropical Queensland during the last few days.

During the 48 hours to 9am on Wednesday, a rain gauge at Rita Island to the south of Townsville received 629mm, including more than 500mm in 24 hours.

As rain spread further up the coast, Cairns Airport collected 207.6mm during the 24 hours to 9am on Wednesday, which is half a month's worth of rain for the site.

There has also been heavy rain in northwest Queensland, closer to the centre of the tropical low. Cloncurry Airport's 106mm during the 24 hours to 9am on Wednesday is also more than half their monthly average.

A number of flood watches and warnings are in place across northern Queensland in response to this week's rain. Some rivers are expected to experience moderate to major flooding in the coming days.

A severe weather warning has also been issued over an arc stretching from northwest Queensland down into the NT's Barkly and Simpson districts. This region is where the low pressure system is likely to cause flash flooding and damaging winds during Wednesday and Thursday.

Image: Forecast accumulated rain during Wedneday and Thursday, according to the ECMWF-HRES model.

A flood watch has also been issued for some central and southern catchments in the NT, where riverine flooding and road inundation are likely in the coming days.

Visit https://www.weatherzone.com.au/warnings.jsp for the latest flooding and severe weather advisories in QLD and the NT.

- Weatherzone

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