2021 summer forecast for Mackay, Whitsunday, Isaac regions

A man’s body was pulled from a ute as heavy rains cause flash flooding in Central Queensland. It comes as Mackay, Whitsunday, Isaac regions are warned of a hot, sticky and very wet summer ahead.

A man’s body has been pulled from a ute that was submerged in floodwaters as heavy rain continues to lash Central Queensland west of Mackay.

A member of the public spotted the vehicle off Gregory Hwy in Hibernia, near Clermont, just after 7am on Friday.

“The male driver and sole occupant of the vehicle has been located deceased,” police said in a statement.

Just tragic. Police still working to retrieve the vehicle. Road is still closed just north of Capella (and just south of Clermont) 📷: north of Capella https://t.co/TVNHN3Eguhpic.twitter.com/bXkyAGliah

— Katrina Beavan (@katrina_beavan) November 26, 2021

And heavy rainfalls are expected to continue with flash flooding at Clermont and Rubyvale overnight indicative of a wet, hot and sticky summer ahead for Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday regions.

Bureau of Meteorology’s Helen Reid said the river height in the Central Highlands had risen “very dramatically” on Thursday leading to the issuing of flash flooding emergency alerts overnight.

“There’s an alert on the river not far from Rubyvale, that indicates an increase from about 1.5m up to close to 9.8m in about nine hours,” the meteorologist said.

Flash flooding near Clermont made it difficult for a RACQ CQ Rescue crew to perform a rescue on the Gregory Development Rd about 120km north of Clermont on Thursday, November 25, 2021. Picture: RACQ CQ Rescue

Ms Reid said the continuous rainfall had saturated the landscape causing rivers, catchments and creeks to either come close to flood levels or surpass them, including at Clermont, Emerald, and towards Rockhampton and Gladstone.

The flooding closed the Gregory Highway on Friday and provided an obstacle for an RACQ CQ Rescue crew which was tasked to a single vehicle incident on the Gregory Development Rd about 120km north of Clermont on Thursday.

Flash flooding near Clermont made it difficult for a RACQ CQ Rescue crew to perform a rescue on the Gregory Development Rd about 120km north of Clermont on Thursday, November 25, 2021. Picture: RACQ CQ Rescue

“Unfortunately, flooding in the area meant the ambulance was effectively cut off from Clermont, hence the rescue helicopter was forced to rendezvous with them on a high and dry stretch of road 50km away,” an RACQ CQ Rescue spokeswoman said.

There were also been reports of localised flooding in Proserpine.

“A couple of places have had 100mm (of rain) each day for a couple of days now and that’s on the back of lots of thunderstorm days as well,” Ms Reid said.

Heavy rain hits Queensland, NSW, Victoria

In the 24 hours to 9am AEST on Friday, some of the highest falls included:

• 192 mm at Bundaberg, Qld

• 182 mm at Kilmarnock Station, south of Clermont, Qld

• 157 mm at Awoonga Dam, south of Gladstone, Qld

• 117 mm at Mt Palmer, NSW

• 111 mm at Blackville, NSW

• 91 mm at Snowball, NSW

• 91 mm at Whitlands, Vic

• 80 mm at Warrenbayne, Vic

• 66 mm at Dubbo, NSW

• 58 mm at Archerton, Vic

Source: Bureau of Meteorology

In the Mackay region, Sarina and surrounds received the heaviest falls with Sucrogen Weir recording 52mm in the 24 hours to 9am Friday, Bells Creek 46mm, Carmila 28mm, Maguire Rd 26mm and Eton’s Sandy Creek with 22mm.

In the Whitsundays, Bowen Airport recorded 50mm in the same time period, and has received another 50mm since 9am Friday.

And in the Isaac region, Clermont received more than 100mm in the 24 hours to 9am with the airport recording another 43mm in the 90 minutes following.

Rubyvale recorded 88mm in 24 hours.

Clermont resident Luke Rockliff said he had not seen that much water in the five years he had lived there.

“It came up overnight,” Mr Rockliff said.

“It was about a metre under the bridge at lunchtime yesterday, and about a metre over at 4 (am) this morning.”

The bridge at Sandy Creek, Clermont at 4am on Friday, November 26, 2021 after flash flooding. Ronel Aban Bingco says the water was about 1m on top of the bridge. Picture: Ronel Aban Bingco

Ms Reid said heavy rain and thunderstorms throughout the Central Highlands and Coalfields would start to ease off towards Wednesday.

But she said more wet weather on the way was part of the La Nina over the Pacific Ocean for the summer ahead.

“In association with that, we do have the Indian Ocean to the west, and while that seems a long way away … it feeds across the Australian continent,” Ms Reid said.

She said Mackay Whitsunday Isaac could expect continuous rain, warm-feeling temperatures and sticky weather overnight throughout the next few months as clouds trapped in the heat.

Flash flooding near Clermont on Thursday, November 25, 2021. Picture: RACQ CQ Rescue

She said it was safe to say there would be more floods with saturated catchments so residents should prepare.

“The La Nina from 2012, that might be one that’s comparable or possibly a little bit wetter,” she said.

“It’s about 10 years or so since we might have seen a prolonged amount of widespread rainfall.

“This intensity of rainfall won’t be the signature for the whole summer, there might be times it won’t rain at all.”

Stay prepared via your local council’s emergency dashboards and the BOM’s website.

Click here for Mackay Region Disaster Dashboard.

Click here for Whitsunday Region Disaster Dashboard.

Click here for Isaac Region Disaster Dashboard.

Click here for the least Queensland weather on the BOM.

Originally published as 2021 summer forecast for Mackay, Whitsunday, Isaac regions