Cool Weather Hits Southern Australia

There is these breaks of really fine conditions around most of Queensland where flooding is ongoing, but if we track further north across North Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Kimberley, we will see showers and thunderstorms with the risk of heavy rainfall. For Queensland specifically, should be a pretty bright day from about Townsville, Bowen, Whitsundays southwards. The flood situation across the east is evolving, but in general lots of those river levels are starting to come down now as it's been a couple of days since that heavy rain ceased. Brisbane should have a sunny day, quite a warm one as well. High of 34°C. We're looking at similar temperatures across the south-east and the southern interior. Rain, showers and storms expected across the north through the Herbert and Lower Burdekin, North Tropical Coast, Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf of Carpentaria.

This trough is going to be moving northwards through New South Wales through the morning, bringing chillier winds. So, expect the temperature to drop, actually for many places around the middle of the day, including in and around Sydney, we could see those temperatures fall from the high 20s to the lower 20s for the afternoon. That change in wind and that cooler air coming up from the south won't generate much shower activity but we could see a few light falls, particularly from Newcastle northwards. Can't rule out 1 or 2 light falls elsewhere along the coast. Fine in the south. Fine in the west, with temperatures a few degrees cooler than recent days.

It's feeling a little cooler across Victoria as well. Southwesterly winds are bringing a very autumnal feel to the weather on Thursday, with temperatures in the high teens to mid 20s. There'll be a little bit of light rain caught up in that wind flow as well on and south of the Victorian mountain ranges, so we could see a spot or two of right around Warrnambool, all the way out to South Australia, then and through Melbourne and across parts of Gippsland as well but none of that rain will be heavy or persistent.

And that same wind, which is dragging the cooler air to Victoria, is doing likewise down here in Tasmania. Temperatures in the teens for Thursday, a little bit gusty as well. The southwesterlies will pepper the west coast with showers throughout the day. Hobart might get 1 or 2 light showers, but there shouldn't be much in the rain gauges. And for other eastern and northern parts, dry and mostly sunny weather expected from Maria Island up through Swansea and St Helens and then around the north coast through Launceston, Devonport, Burnie and Wynyard.

There will be a general air of cloudiness across the southern part of South Australia on Thursday. That's the case across the south-east, through the peninsulas, the islands, the southern ranges, really all of those southern growing regions. Fairly cloudy, maybe a spot of light drizzle as well, but certainly nothing significant accumulating in your rain gauge. Further north, bright sunny skies, with temperatures a little cooler than they've been over recent days across the pastoral districts, through parts of the Flinders, the, the Riverland and the Murraylands.

A dry, bright, mostly sunny day expected in Perth with a high of 29°C and it's a similar story right along the west coast. Showers down in the south, with the possibility of some rain and thunderstorms to areas east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, out towards the Eucla and southern interior. Further north, sunny skies expected across the Pilbara with a low risk of an afternoon shower or thunderstorm.

The risk is much higher through these parts for some rainfall on Thursday, particularly between Darwin and Tennant Creek, where we could see some widespread storm activity building through the course of the day. That could bring some heavy falls, and that may lead to renewed rises along our flooded rivers across the Top End. So, perhaps some of those rivers will take a few extra days to subside. Some wet conditions are also expected around the northern Kimberley, but from Broome southwards it should be a bright, clear day as it will be around central parts of the country.

And that's the wrap for now. You can always get more weather info on the BOM website or the BOM weather app or you can check in with us again for tomorrow's National Weather Forecast.