Queensland Braces for Heavy Rain, Flood Threat

Across that period, as you can see, we are expecting high rainfall totals to accumulate from north-eastern parts of the Northern Territory, all the way through the north-west of Queensland, the Northern Interior pushing towards the North Tropical Coast as well. All of these areas are expecting to see several hundred millimetres of rain accumulating over the next 4 to 5 days.

There are a couple of key areas to focus on though, where the colours on this map show purple and black. That's across the north-west of Queensland and the North Tropical Coast. These areas are more likely to see moisture converging, and more widespread heavy rain is likely. These areas may see well in excess of 300 mm or so over the next 5 to 7 days.

In anticipation of this widespread rainfall risk, we have issued extensive areas of Flood Watch. They extend from those eastern parts of the Northern Territory through much of western, northern and even eastern Queensland. The Flood Watch is flagging the risk of riverine flooding developing over the coming days, in response to that persistent daily rainfall.

This Flood Watch area is correct as of 11:00 am on Friday morning, but the Flood Watch areas may be changed or expanded over the coming days as rain continues to fall.

Now, in addition to the riverine flooding risk, we have a risk of flash flooding over the coming days. That's more likely to be tied to thunderstorm activity. Flash flooding can occur quickly and quickly cut off roads and access routes.

Across this period between Christmas and New Year, many people will be travelling or holidaying, so this is definitely something to build into your plans. We could see roads closed, roads cut off completely or turned muddy from the rain, and also communities isolated, particularly in those more remote parts of western Queensland.

We may also see impacts for our agricultural areas and for our livestock, as the rains combine with below average temperatures.

So what exactly is going to be driving this risk of rain and flooding over the coming days. Well, taking a look at today's weather map, we can see the monsoon trough lying across the north. A couple of other low pressure troughs to the west and east as well.

These troughs are going to interact with significant moisture across the tropics and drive widespread showers and thunderstorms through northern Australia.

Taking a closer look at today's thunderstorm forecast map, we can see that storms, possibly severe storms, are possible from those northern parts of the Kimberley all the way across northern parts of the Northern Territory and into much of Queensland. In fact, there is a risk of severe storms today all the way down the east coast, as far south as Rockhampton or so.

South-east Queensland may see some thunderstorms today, but they're less likely to become severe.

Now, any severe thunderstorms that do develop today are likely to bring heavy rainfall, potentially locally intense rainfall, as well as some potentially gusty winds. It's definitely a good idea to keep an eye out today for any Severe Thunderstorm Warnings we may need to issue.

Moving into the weekend, we're going to see the monsoon trough extending further into the north-western parts of Queensland. A low pressure system sitting along that monsoon trough will gradually move into the north-west of the state as well.

Another low pressure trough will gradually push up the east coast, and these two systems will interact to draw in significant moisture across northern parts of Queensland. So we are likely to see monsoonal rains developing this weekend across that north-western, Northern Interior part of the state.

Widespread, heavy to locally intense falls, and we may also see those heavy to intense falls developing along the coast between Cairns and Bowen. We're likely to see those heaviest rainfall totals from Saturday into Sunday, but they could continue into early next week as well.

It's really going to depend on where this low pressure system moves, and there are still a couple of directions it could go. At this point in time, it is expected to drift further south across western parts of Queensland, continuing to draw in moisture. However, we may get a clearer picture of this over the weekend.

One way or the other, though, we are likely to see heavy rainfall across northern parts of Queensland this weekend and a high likelihood of flood developing. We are likely to see Severe Weather Warnings for heavy rainfall issued over the next few days, so make sure you keep an eye out for those as well.

You'll always be able to find them at the Bureau's website, on the BOM Weather app, or via our social media. Stay safe, plan ahead, and we'll catch you next time.