BOM Townsville , Queensland's north coast cops further drenching with flash flooding in Townsville, BOM says records will be broken
Queensland's north coast cops further drenching with flash flooding in Townsville, BOM says records will be broken
BOM Townsville
- Queensland's north coast cops further drenching with flash flooding in Townsville, BOM says records will be broken
- Innisfail on the northern Queensland coast has seen major rainfall totals as an extreme weather system sweeps north.(Supplied: Milva Cumuglia)
- Heavy rainfall will lash large parts of Tropical North Queensland and the Central Coast today as a severe weather system pushes towards the coast.
- Major flooding is occurring north of Townsville after almost 160 millimetres fell overnight
- May rainfall records have tumbled in western Queensland, with more rain expected to fall
- The system is expected to ease on Friday as it heads toward south-east Queensland.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said the weather system moved east overnight after bringing record-breaking rainfall to parts of the central west on Tuesday.
Major flooding is occurring north of Townsville where almost 160 millimetres fell in parts of the city overnight.
Queensland's highest total was just south of Townsville at Upper Major Creek, which has recorded 230 millimetres since 9am yesterday.
The BOM said the rain's focal point will move south tomorrow, with the heaviest rainfall remaining off shore, though some pockets will stray onto the coast.
The Bureau expects the Bohle River at Mt Bohle will surpass record flooding levels set in January, 1980, with the swollen catchment already sitting at 7 metres.
- The Bureau expects the Bohle River at Mt Bohle will surpass record flooding levels set in January, 1980.(ABC News: Chloe Chomicki)
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said the city was well prepared for the unseasonal deluge, which hit the community just after 8pm yesterday.
"What we got last night was quite an intensive burst of rain," Ms Hill said.
"I spoke to staff before I went to bed. It had dropped 100mm in an hour in Kirwan alone, and that's the sort of event where you start to see minor flooding.
"I'm hopeful that today we haven't seen much private property damage and most of the community has gotten through this event."
Swiftwater rescue crews are working to rescue a person from floodwaters near Surprise Creek at Mount Ossa north of Mackay.
They were called the scene just after 5am.
Records set to be broken
Forecaster Helen Reid said BOM was "definitely looking at the record books".
"There will be a couple of places there that have had their highest rainfall for a day in May."
Police said it was disappointing to see some motorists taking unnecessary risks on locally flooded roads overnight, but thankfully no rescues were required.
Senior meteorologist Laura Boekel said inland areas would continue to see rainfall for the rest of the week, but today's heaviest totals would be focused around the coast.
She said the region from Cairns to Bowen could see 150 millimetres of rainfall in a six-hour period, but that could be higher "depending on whether we see storms or not in that rain band".
Townsville could receive up to 250mm on Wednesday, with high totals expected to continue into Thursday.
The SES delivered supplies in Windorah where heavy rain is expected to continue.
A severe weather warning is in place along the North Tropical Coast and Central Coast, west towards Richmond and Barcaldine, and down to the Carnarvon National Park.
However, Ms Boekel said a "really broad area across really large parts of Queensland" was at risk of riverine flooding.
"It doesn't cover the south-east, but northern, central and western areas are all covered within that flood watch," she said.
"Within that area, that's where we can see catchments start to rise and produce riverine flooding either the minor moderate or major level."
On the Sunshine Coast more than 1,400 properties are without power this morning, with 100mm of rain falling across the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
Mapleton has recorded 145 millimetres since 9am yesterday, Maleny has had 125mm, Wappa Dam 127mm and Yandina more than 100mm.
The Bureau of Meteorology says up to 100 millimetres of rain could fall in the region today, as the wet weather continues across Queensland.
The weather bureau said the region was on track to smash rainfall records, with the average in May, which is typically considered the dry season, just 33mm.
Authorities say the flooding risk to some residential homes in western Queensland towns is now passing.
The Bureau of Metereology was forecasting a severe weather event, but rainfall in towns like Longreach has fallen well below initial expectations, with some properties only receiving 30mm.
Richmond grazier Rob Ievers, whose station has received 50mm of rain, said he was ecstatic to receive the rare rain event for this time of year.
"I think worth noting about this rain is that it's most unusual and the way it fell, it was good, steady, soaking rain which is what everyone would have wished for, rather than absolute flooding rain than we had in late 2019."
Risk of flash flooding remains
Ms Boekel said there was a risk of flash flooding for "all communities along the east coast" as the system moved over south-east Queensland on Thursday and Friday.
"It's important to note that because we have seen such a significant event in February and March that everything is responding very rapidly," she said.
"Nothing is soaking into those rivers or creeks. It can become flooding as soon as it sort of hits the ground."
Ms Boekel said it was still too early to predict how far south the system would travel.
On Tuesday, the inland areas of Hughenden Airport, Richmond Airport and Cloncurry Airport recorded their highest May rainfall totals on record.
Forty-six millimetres were recorded at Hughenden Airport, surpassing the previous May record of 31.8 millimetres.
Richmond Airport had 32.4 millimetres, well above the previous record of 28.8 millimetres, and Cloncurry had 27.6 millimetres, also soaring past the previous record of 21.6 millimetres.
