Weather News

TC Ita speeding away

Ben McBurney, Monday April 14, 2014 - 12:34 AEST

Tropical Cyclone Ita is finally making its departure from Queensland as it speeds off over the Coral Sea, but not before it brought heavy and squally rain to the coast overnight.

Many places between Bowen and St Lawrence saw falls of 100mm to 200mm, particularly between Bowen and Proserpine where there were even heavier falls as the system clipped the coast. Proserpine collected 182mm in the 24 hours to 9am, its heaviest fall in a little over three years while Bowen picked up 168mm, its best rain since November.

Heavy rain also reached into southern parts of the state, with widespread falls of 50mm to 100mm between Mackay and the Sunshine Coast. Rockhampton picked up 61mm to 9am, its wettest April day since 1929, while parts of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland recorded in excess of 200mm.

Damaging winds were also felt about the tropical QLD coast, even as the system moved offshore. Hay Point copped a wind gust of 100km/h at 8:30pm, while Mackay had gusts reach 94km/h, the strongest since 2010.

The remainder of the day will see generally improving weather along the QLD coast, as Ita moves further away and weakens into a tropical low, although windy conditions with showers will persist in the south.

By mid-week only a few light showers will linger, however New Zealand won't be quite as lucky as Ita approaches as a deep extra-tropical low.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2014

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A very wet weekend for southeast Qld, northeast NSW

11:48 AEST A prolonged rainfall event is set to bring large totals to parts of NSW and Qld from Saturday, with possible heavy falls and flooding. A low-pressure system in the Coral Sea, a deepening coastal trough and persistent easterlies will bring moisture-laden air into southeast Qld and northeast NSW will bring days of rainfall to the region. While there is not a drop of rain on the radar over southeast Qld and Northeast NSW on Friday morning, the mass of cloud associated with a low in the Coral Sea will enhance rainfall over the weekend.