North Queensland prepares for wet election day with the Bureau predicting up to 100mm of rainfall
Townsville and Hinchinbrook could receive up to 100mm of rainfall and strong wind gusts over the weekend, breaking up weeks of sunny weather.
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North Queenslanders may be donning their wet-weather clothing for the election, with rainfall expected over the next few days.
Showers are predicted for Townsville and Ayr until the end of the weekend, and Ingham is set to receive rainfall until late next week.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Felim Hanniffy said North Queenslanders can expect no shortages on the rain gauge.
“There’s plenty of showers around this long weekend across the north east tropics,” he said.
“It will be showering broadly across the north east coast and tropical east coast.”
Mr Hanniffy said the Hinchinbrook region may be hit the worst over the weekend.
“For areas around Ingham, we could see totals getting up to 50 to 100 mms particularly during Saturday,” he said.
“Even for the rest of the weekend some accumulations up around 50mm is still possible.
“Some of the more elevated terrain there, that’s where we could see falls getting up in excess of 100 to 150mm.
“We could see some localised river responses even just for moderate rainfall in that region.”
There is a 90% chance of rain in Ingham on Saturday and 80% on Sunday, with the chance gradually declining for the rest of the week.
The strong rainfall is driven by strong onshore, south easterly winds, which may reach 50 to 60 km per hour broadly, and 70 to 80 km per hour locally along the coast.
Mr Hanniffy said Townsville will receive “fast moving, blustery showers,” over the weekend.
“We will see a chance of showers on a daily basis,” he said.
There is a 60% chance of rain on Saturday and a 40% chance on Sunday for Townsville.
The rainfall is predicted to move inland to Hughenden and Richmond over the weekend as well.
“Shower activity will filter in land as well through the northern interior,” Mr Hanniffy said.
Mr Hanniffy said it isn’t uncommon for North Queensland to receive bursts of rain coming into the dry season.
“These strong rainfalls tend to be frequent even during the dry season months,” he said.
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Originally published as North Queensland prepares for wet election day with the Bureau predicting up to 100mm of rainfall
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