Queensland weather: Temperatures set to plummet before drenching rainfall

A massive weather system is being tracked with the potential it could form into an East Coast low as Queensland braces for drenching rain and subzero temperatures.

A jet stream of chilly air is bring cold weather to Queensland. Picture: Weatherzone

A massive weather system off the east coast of Australia is being monitored with the potential it could develop into an east coast low within days.

It comes after wild winds hammered parts of southern Queensland and ahead of drenching rain and another round of subzero temperatures early next week.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jonathan How said there was potential for the system off the central NSW coast to develop deep low-pressure system, however it was too far out to predict the impacts on Queensland.

A low off central NSW is being monitored with the potential is could develop into an east coast low. Picture: Supplied

“Conditions are favourable for quite a deep low pressure system, but it’s too early to call it an east coast low,” he said.

“For Southeast Queensland, we might get some strong winds on the Wednesday, but then it pretty much clears off the coast on Thursday.”

Rainfall totals in excess of 50mm are forecast over the weekend and into early next week, with the heaviest falls expected on Monday with 25mm in Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast, 35mm on the Gold Coast and 15mm in Toowoomba.

Temperatures could also plummet, with -1C forecast for parts of the Granite Belt early in the week, while some towns across the Darling Downs could get down to 0C.

Mr How said the cold snap could start as early as Friday.

“Some of those temperatures at the moment dropping down to below 5C for Toowoomba and down towards zero and below zero for places like Roma and Charleville,” Mr How said.

“It will be pretty frosty and also quite chilly across the western suburbs of Brisbane and in the city itself.”

A strong jet stream is driving a wintry outbreak this week. Picture: Weatherzone.

It comes after wind gusts up to 65kmh were recorded at the Archerfield and Brisbane airports on Tuesday, while they peaked at 63kmh on the Gold Coast.

Mr How said the next weather system to watch was a cloud band that was forming across northern and far northern Queensland that could bring unseasonal rainfall to areas around Cairns and Mackay on Sunday.

“We’re not expecting big rainfall totals out of this, but the rainfall that we will see will be quite unseasonal especially for the Gulf country, northern goldfields and extending out towards the Cairns coast and Mackay,” he said.