Storms and rain expected to lash South East Queensland daily

Storms and rainbands have threatened parts of South East Queensland, as weather experts predict the region is in for a week of rain.

Storms and rainbands threatened parts of South East Queensland Monday afternoon as weather experts warn the region is in for a drenching.

After a drier than usual winter, Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Livio Regano said there was a high risk of showers and storms from Monday to Thursday this week.

“It’s a case where every day including today we will most likely see a pretty good chance of catching a shower,” he said.

“Particularly in Brisbane we will most likely see storm activity on Wednesday or Thursday,” he said.

A storm moving east over the Gold Coast Monday afternoon. Several storms are forecast for the southeast over the coming days.

Storms began developing over the Southeast by 3pm Monday with the heaviest falls centered between Mudgeeraba and Beaudesert in the Gold Coast hinterland.

The Bureaus Double Crossing Rd rainfall monitoring station at Canungra recorded 5.7mm in the hour between 2pm and 3pm.

According to the Bureau’s radar the storm was tracking northeast toward Southport with 0-3mm forecast to reach the coast during the afternoon.

There were also heavy falls over the Southern Downs northeast from the border region.Mountain Station Creek south of Stanthorpe recorded 7.1mm between 12pm and 3pm while Storm King Dam Headwater received 5.7mm, Kettleswap Creek 3.9mm and Granite Street 3.9mm.

Mr Regano said some areas would receive light falls of just up to 2mm, but areas experiencing storm activity would have higher falls.

“It’s a bit of a hit or miss thing, but this will be the first rain we’ve had in a while,” he said.

Mr Regano said the sudden shower and storm activity were due to the rising of cold air with warm air lowering closer to the surface.

It comes as weather experts have confirmed Queensland has had a much drier than average winter with potential records set to be broken in the coming days.

Storms over Brisbane in March.

Early Warning Network Meteorologist Ken Kato said the figures certainly showed “a very dry winter season”.

“The southeast’s median rainfall for … winter sits between 100mm and 200mm, but this season we have only had 45.2mm in Brisbane and 20mm in the Sunshine Coast,” he said.

Mr Kato said places like Dalby had also received 20mm this season and no rain at all for the month of August.

“That is a very, very small amount,” he said.

“We could certainly see some records broken but there’s no telling where that could be given the showers over the next few days.”

Mr Kato said the rainfall expected this week would be significant.

“Especially after that really dry pattern we have seen this season,” he said.