Townsville forecast: King tides, wet weather in the week ahead

Townsville council is warning of king tides and inundation in flood-prone areas with BOM forecasting unseasonal wet weather in the week ahead.

Acadia Conway, 5, and Stevie Lynch, 5, having fun at Riverway Lagoon in photo in April. The Bureau of Meteorology says Townsville and North Queensland, particularly in coastal areas, is facing a “showery few days ahead”, with a brief pause later in the week before fresh downfalls over the weekend and into next week. Picture: Shae Beplate

The Townsville council is warning of king tides and the likelihood of minor inundation in flood-prone areas with BOM forecasting unseasonal wet weather in the week ahead.

“Townsville City Council is encouraging residents in low-lying areas to take precautions ahead of king tides expected from (Wednesday),” a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

“The king tide is forecast to reach 3.81m at 8.43pm on Wednesday, with a further king tide reaching 3.83m at 9.20pm on Thursday.”

She urged residents in areas that are prone to minor flooding during high tides to “take necessary precautions”.

“Suburbs like South Townsville and Railway Estate may be impacted, along with Hanran Street and Ogden Street in the city,” she said.

“Motorists are asked to observe any warnings and road closures.”

Kitannah, 11 and Harry, 2, (front) with sisters Tiffany, 12, and Zoey, 5, having fun at Riverway Lagoon. Picture: Shae Beplate

The Bureau of Meteorology, meanwhile, said Townsville and North Queensland, particularly in coastal areas, were facing a “showery few days ahead”, with a brief pause later in the week before fresh downfalls over the weekend and into next week.

Senior BOM meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said the unusual aspect of the unseasonal precipitation was that it was persisting.

“We are not seeing a couple of days of showers then a return to completely dry weather, it’s sort of four, five days of showers on and off with that next chance of rain (later in the week),” she said.

“It is a bit of a non-winter weather pattern.”

Kitannah, 11 and Harry, 2 (front) with sisters Zoey, 5, and Tiffany, 12, having fun at Riverway Lagoon. Picture: Shae Beplate

She said the other slightly unusual aspect was that temperatures were remaining higher than normal, despite the rain.

“Particularly on Friday, ahead of that next rain system that comes through, the temperatures are pushing two, four, six degrees above the average so it will remain very mild all week, even with this showery weather, so it will probably start feeling a little bit humid as well,” she said.

“The cooler air doesn’t try and move through until late in the week and early next week so it’s likely to be a little bit warm as well as wet.”

Ms Bradbury said that further north in Ingham, the town had recorded 15mm of rain in the 24-hour period to 9am Tuesday with “a few punchy showers moving in off the water”.

“As we go through the rest of (Tuesday) we are expecting those showers, broadly speaking, to continue … and the showery weather is likely to continue into (Wednesday), in fact it is looking slightly wetter than (Tuesday) with a more widespread chance of showers.”

She said the falls, predominantly in coastal areas, could be as high as 20mm in areas south of Innisfail, extending south to the Burdekin and Mackay.

Ms Bradbury said the average rainfall for Townsville in July was 15.6mm with the figure currently standing at 16.1mm.

Originally published as Townsville forecast: King tides, wet weather in the week ahead