Big wet continues in north Qld as cyclone builds

All bets are off when it comes to predicting the weather, says one north Queenslander, as intense falls across Australia’s north continue while the south-east gets a reprieve.

A monsoon trough moving slowly over the Northern Territory is due to bring damaging winds to Darwin on Thursday.

Possible localised intense falls that could lead to life-threatening flash flooding are also possible further south, including at Tennant Creek.

The low is expected to remain inland for seven days as it moves through the Top End and into Western Australia early next week.

It comes as Queensland prepares for the potential of another cyclone, with another tropical low building in the Coral Sea.

Expected to turn towards the coast from Sunday, the weather system will most likely become a tropical cyclone by Monday.

“There is a significant risk that this system will impact the Queensland coast during next week - a severe impact is possible,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Coastal areas from Cooktown to Mackay could be affected by late Tuesday.

Queensland MP Craig Crawford says “all bets are off when it comes to predicting the weather”.Credit: Dan Peled/AAP

The latest cyclone threat coincides with a massive clean-up effort in far north Queensland finally gaining momentum after record flooding in December caused by Tropical Cyclone Jasper.

“The wet season’s potentially got a couple of months to go - we are barely a third of the way through,” state MP Craig Crawford said.

“We know that we typically get the worst of our wet seasons in February-March and we haven’t got there yet.

“This season has certainly shown us ... that all bets are off when it comes to predicting the weather.”

Meanwhile, the south-west of Western Australia copped its second round of severe thunderstorms in as many days late on Wednesday.

The first on Tuesday afternoon tore down hundreds of electricity poles and wires, cutting power to 34,000 homes and businesses in the Perth Hills and the Wheatbelt.

While more than 14,000 properties were reconnected by late Wednesday afternoon, grid operator Western Power warned it could take a week to return some to the network.

Elsewhere, a trough that has brought heavy falls and storms to the south-east is due to move offshore bringing dry conditions to inland areas and only showers on the coast.

“But more active showers and thunderstorms will persist across north-east NSW and south-east Queensland,” senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said on Wednesday, as a high-pressure ridge becomes established to the south.

Tasmania will probably also see heavier falls because of a low-pressure system.

Thunderstorms that had been forecast to dip into Sydney’s outskirts on Wednesday night instead tracked further north, dumping 60 millimetres on Gloucester in an hour and 37 millimetres at Coolah.

While flooding in the north-east of NSW is easing, the SES has urged people to stay alert for flash flooding and renewed river rises amid forecasts of up to 70 millimetres of rain in some parts.

- AAP