Queensland weather: Rain reprieve as storms bring in 20mm drops

Much needed rain has fallen in parts of southern Queensland, bringing in hope for a reprieve from blistering conditions fuelling bushfires.

Much needed rain fell in parts of southern Queensland on Wednesday, bringing in hope for a reprieve from blistering conditions fuelling bushfires.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Laura Boekel said on Wednesday evening that a weather transition was underway.

“So we’re moving away from those hot, windy and dry conditions that we have been seeing for the last week,” she said.

“With that change we are seeing storm activity so the storms that we are seeing this afternoon are producing more rainfall than what we’ve seen over the past couple of days which is good news for the fire grounds.

“We saw 17mm in one hour at Jimna in the Sunshine Coast and 20mm at the Borumba Dam. So that’s telling us if we do see storms further south they’re likely to produce a little bit more rainfall than we have seen.

“Worth noting too that we do have warnings current for those storms, so they are producing winds, damaging winds and hail as well.”

Ms Boekel said there would be an increased level of showers and storms in the southeast in the next week. There was still high fire danger in North Queensland, she said, and in the next four days there would be high fire danger ratings in the Central West, North West and Channel Country.

The Bureau was earlier in the day warning of severe thunderstorms with possible hail in excess of 2cm and damaging wind gusts greater than 90km/h are on the cards, but the storms were not expected to reach the Gold Coast or Brisbane.

The storm threat was likely from Bundaberg on the Central Coast all the way down to Dalby in the Darling Downs, and also extended as far north as Rockhampton.

⛈️Thunderstorm forecast: severe thunderstorms with large hail and damaging wind gusts are likely between Bundaberg and Dalby, and possible between Rockhampton and Toowoomba. Thunderstorms unlikely over the Gold Coast and Brisbane CBD. Warnings if needed: https://t.co/FBmpsInT9opic.twitter.com/HJAme5pw5v

— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) October 31, 2023

There are numerous bushfires within the forecast zone. Senior Meteorologist Steve Hadley from the Bureau of Meteorology said there were two sides to the storm threat for firefighters.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” he said.

“The potential gusty winds with these thunderstorms won’t help, but the rain we could also get could help firefighting efforts.

“When you get the rain falling in certain places it can act to stifle the fire, but depending on the size of the fire, you might need more follow up rainfall over the next few days to really start to have an impact on the overall fire behaviour across the region.

“I don’t think today’s storms will do that, but there is the potential for more shower and thunderstorm activity over Friday, the weekend and into next week.

“So good news for some, but it could be very hit and miss, not everyone will see the benefits. But some places will see three or four days with a medium chance of rainfall.”

Along with the potential for some areas to receive rainfall over several days, Mr Hadley said the fire danger in Central and Southern Queensland should also ease.

“With the increased humidity over the next few days, the fire danger should also come down a little bit,” he said.

“While we’re looking at a high fire danger in many Central and Southern Queensland districts today, by tomorrow most of those high fire danger areas will be over Central and Western Queensland. By the weekend, most of those should be confined to Western Queensland.”

Mr Hadley said Thursday would be a quieter day on the weather front, but from Friday onwards there was a greater potential for further storms and rainfall.

“I wouldn’t be surprised over the next seven days if we see a range of rainfall totals generally from 15-25mm, but there is also the potential for some places to get over 50mm,” he said.

“Some areas may be at the lower end, others may be at the higher end, and this extends across Central and South East Queensland – from Emerald and Rockhampton, down the South East Coast and out as far west as Charleville.”