Townsville weather: Thunderstorms for Hinchinbrook, minor flood warning for Herbert River

‘Possibly severe’ thunderstorms are forecast for parts of North Queensland today, as officials keep watch on a developing Coral Sea low. See the latest.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting the chance of ‘possibly severe’ thunderstorms in the Hinchinbrook area today, with a minor flood warning in place for parts of the Herbert River.

Senior meteorologist Harry Clark said there was about a 30 per cent chance of severe thunderstorms in parts of North Queensland including the Hinchinbrook area on Friday.

“Isolated pockets could see rain totals of in excess of 100mm,” he said.

There is also an initial minor flood warning in place for the Herbert River after rainfall totals of 15 to 105mm were observed across the catchment within 24 hours to 9am on Friday.

This has caused creek and river level rises throughout the upper catchment, with minor flooding possible at Gleneagle up to 4.5m.

Mr Clark said the storm activity around North Queensland is expected to taper down after Friday, with a smattering of showers expected over the weekend.

It comes after residents in Rollingstone recorded isolated falls of up to 127mm on Thursday night.

While Townsville will likely miss out on Friday’s storms, residents may get some reprieve from the heat with a medium chance of showers, most likely in the mornings, over the weekend.

Meanwhile, ex-tropical cyclone Kirrily has dumped 340mm of rain in just 24 hours as the system begins to track towards southwest Queensland, while the chances of a new cyclone forming off the coast increase.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Brooke Pagel said flooding was the main concern for authorities.

“The issue is it gets into catchments and flows downstream so we also have moderate flood warnings for the Georgina and Diamantina River and major flooding in the Flinders river downstream of Richmond,” she said.

Meanwhile, the chances of a low in the Coral Sea developing into a cyclone next week has increased overnight to moderate (25 per cent).

“While it’s still a tropical low in the Coral Sea moving north east away from the coast, there’s still an increasing chance it may develop into a tropical cyclone from Wednesday or Thursday next week,” she said.

Ms Pagel said the system was sitting 933km east of Mackay.

“People should keep watching out for updates because we will soon have more of an idea on whether it will impact the Queensland coast and when,” she said.

Originally published as Townsville weather: Thunderstorms for Hinchinbrook, minor flood warning for Herbert River