Townsville weather: Good chances of rain, storms after Christmas

Above average temperatures are set to warm Townsville over Christmas but chances of rain are increasing.

ABOVE-AVERAGE temperatures are set to warm Townsville over Christmas but chances of rain are increasing.

Today and on Christmas temperatures in the city are expected to reach a high of 33C, slightly above the 31.5C average maximum temperatures for December.

To date, this December has been warm, averaging 33.5C, and far drier than normal.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jess Gardner said just 2.4mm had been recorded in Townsville so far this month, well short of the December average of 126.9mm.

The chances of rain do increase after Christmas, however, with a 30 per cent chance of showers on Boxing Day.

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“We do have the increased chances of showers from about Thursday to Saturday,” Ms Gardner said.

“It’s kind of the tail end to the system which is bringing the wet weather for Brisbane.”

There will be higher chances of rain up to 10mm in the days following, bringing with it a chance of thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday.

Ms Gardner said there was also a chance of thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday.

She said the chance of showers would cool Townsville slightly as a result of the cloud cover.

Ms Gardner said Townsville would likely continue to experience sea breezes picking up in the afternoon as they had been for much of this month.

Charters Towers will be scorched by a top of 41C on Christmas while Ayr can expect a top of 34C and Ingham 36C.

The warmer than average start to summer continues on from the last, which was the fourth warmest for Queensland in terms of mean temperature.

Originally published as Townsville weather: Good chances of rain, storms after Christmas