Cool change after flooding rains, heatwave hit Wide Bay

A welcome cool change has hit the Wide Bay after the region struggled through weeks of flooding rains followed by a heatwave. Here’s how much fell over two months and what to expect.

Flooding rains and sweltering heat have been the main weather mix in the Wide Bay so far in March.

But the next few days are set to bring a welcome cool change for the region.

It comes after a deluge hit the Fraser Coast, Gympie and Bundaberg in February.

Last month, Gympie recorded a whopping 648.4mm of rain (though some rural rain gauges recorded more than a metre) compared to its February average of 167mm.

The rest of the region was above average as well, with 159.8mm recorded in Hervey Bay compared to the February average of 134mm.

Maryborough recorded 311mm compared to an average of 173mm and Bundaberg recorded 237mm compared to its average of 152mm.

There hasn’t been as much rain in March, but the wet weather has continued, combined with stinking heat and humidity.

Bundaberg has recorded 128mm so far this month, already ahead of its average of 112mm.

In Hervey Bay 54mm has been recorded against the March average of 137mm.

A welcome cool change has hit the Wide Bay after the region struggled through weeks of flooding rains and a heatwave.

Maryborough has recorded 71.8mm of rain against its average of 151mm and Gympie has recorded 85.6mm against its average of 143mm.

Meanwhile, the heat has also set records across the Wide Bay.

With the high humidity keeping temperatures warm, Bundaberg broke its highest minimum temperature for March.

On March 3, the temperature in Bundaberg did not fall below 26.9, breaking the previous highest minimum of 26.5 set in 1995.

Hervey Bay set a new record for the highest minimum temperature on March 3, as did Maryborough.

The temperature in Hervey Bay did not fall below 26.3, compared to the previous record of 26.1, while in Maryborough it did not fall below 25.5, beating the previous record of 24.8.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Harry Clark said maximums across the region had been above average for the region, with Gympie reaching almost 35 degrees last week.

The other Wide Bay cities also had temperatures in the mid to low 30s.

The unseasonably warm weather could be linked to the high amount of rain the region was seeing, Mr Clark said.

When the air mass had warmth and humidity, that meant more moisture to work with, he said.

A south easterly change in the past few days was bringing some relief, Mr Clark said.

Temperatures across the region would likely drop to 28 to 29 degrees and that would likely stick around for the next week, he said.

Originally published as Cool change after flooding rains, heatwave hit Wide Bay