Queensland warned of ‘relentless’ rain and storms over next four days
Queensland faces four days of “relentless” tropical storms and torrential rain as an intense system sweeps the state.
Millions across Queensland are being warned of “relentless” rain and storms over the next four days as an intense trough sweeps across the state.
Brisbane could see rainfall totals up to 100mm, with “tropical” storms developing tonight and persisting across most of the weekend, with the peak activity expected on Sunday.
Heavy rain is forecast for Toowoomba on Friday, with 35mm totals expected, before intensifying again on Sunday.
Ipswich, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast are all forecast to get up to 35mm on Sunday.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Sarah Scully said severe thunderstorms were possible on Saturday and Sunday, with the potential for large hail, damaging winds and heavy rainfall.
“We’ve got a trough that’s going to be moving slowly eastwards and it’s going to lead to a band of showers and thunderstorms from the northwest of the state right down into the southeast,” Ms Scully said.
Higgins Storm Chasing’s Tom Hinterdorfer said this weekend’s storms would be different than those experienced over the past four weekends.
He said to expect a “pretty relentless 72-96 hours of rain and storms”.
“This set up is looking to be one that we normally see in the January to March time frame, when tropical moisture becomes amplified and leads to rain and storms across several days and nights, leading to rainfall accumulations continuously increasing,” he said.
Meanwhile, Higgins has issued its first tropical watch for the cyclone season, with the increased chance of tropical lows – potentially even a cyclone – forming in the Timor Sea off northern Australia this week.
The Bureau’s modelling says that “it is possible albeit not likely that a tropical low may form in the Timor Sea early next week”.
“The risk of (it) to develop into a tropical cyclone increases to low from Tuesday onwards.”
