A wet and wild weekend is on the way for much of Australia, as heavy rain in Queensland moves east and a tropical low off the coast of Western Australia threatens to develop into a cyclone.
Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra can all expect a washout on Saturday, with heavy rainfall expected to stretch from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast down to the Victorian border, including the potential for isolated falls of up to 100mm.
Sydney is forecast to be very wet, with up to 70mm expected on Saturday, as maximum temperatures head for 24C. As the rain eases on Sunday morning, winds are expected to pick up, and temperatures are forecast to reach 25C.
Showers are also expected in Melbourne as a cool change pushes through, with a top of 22C forecast on Saturday and 21C on Sunday.
On Friday, heavy rain continued to drench already sodden communities across inland Queensland, many still isolated as more than 200 roads remained closed due to flooding.
A severe weather warning for heavy rainfall remained in place for parts of the Maranoa, Warrego, Darling Downs and the Granite Belt, with 24-hour rainfall totals of 50 to 100mm likely. The Bureau of Meteorology also issued a severe thunderstorm warning for heavy rainfall for the state’s central coast, Whitsundays and Capricornia districts.
Teemburra Dam, west of Mackay, recorded 274mm in the 24 hours to 9am Friday, according to the bureau’s senior meteorologist Jonathan How.
He said multiple flood warnings remained in place across the state, including major flood warnings for the Pioneer, Warrego, Paroo, Bulloo, Thomson, Barcoo, Georgina and Western rivers and Cooper and Eyre creeks.
According to How, the deep and slow-moving trough, which has been funnelling tropical moisture on to inland areas, was finally starting to shift towards the coast. “The system is finally getting a move on,” he said.
Brisbane residents and communities in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales were reminded to keep an eye on the rain and any flood warnings, How said. “It has been so wet, it won’t take much to see rivers and creeks rise.”
Saturday would also be a “very wet day” on the NSW coast, he said. And even as the rain cleared on Sunday, the wild weather would continue as powerful winds affected the east coast.
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Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, the weather bureau was monitoring a tropical low off the Kimberley coast, which had the potential to develop into a tropical cyclone on Friday night or Saturday morning.
A tropical cyclone warning has been issued for areas north of Broome up to the Mitchell Plateau in Western Australia.
“Regardless of whether it becomes a tropical cyclone, we will see heavy rain increasing, damaging winds along the coast and pushing inland over the weekend, with heavy falls for inland parts of the Kimberley,” How said.
Showers were expected for most capital cities over the coming days, with the exception of Adelaide and Perth, where a sunny and dry weekend was forecast.
Australia’s land surface has warmed by 1.5C since 1910, according to the bureau, and the climate crisis has increased the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.
