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Unseasonable rain to continue in QLD

Tristan Meyers, Sunday July 17, 2016 - 15:26 AEST

Central and eastern Queensland have continue to bear the brunt of unseasonably heavy rain, with some areas racking up over 300mm in the last 24 hours.

Rockhampton was inundated with 136.8mm, the heaviest July rainfall since the record was set in 1933. Nearby, Gladstone was saturated with 69mm, the heaviest for July in 28 years.

Over the last two days, Yeppoon has accumulated in excess of 350mm, the heaviest rain in two years. However, Pacific Heights in Yeppoon copped 311mm in the 24 hours to 9am this morning.

Due to this heavy rain, flood warnings are in place for the Isaac and Lower Dawson Rivers.

Not only has it been wet, but blustery. Yesterday, Rundle Island consistently saw gusts above 90 km/h, while Gladstone clocked up an 83km/h gust at about 11:30am yesterday.

Thick cloud has consistently brought daytime temperatures well below the July average. For instance, Longreach only warmed to 12.8 degrees yesterday, and Winton 12 degrees, over 10 degrees below the norm. Yesterday, Richmond finished its coldest 3-day spell in over 120 years of records, being consistently 13 degrees under the July average. What's more is that temperatures between days and nights haven't been varying that dramatically, as the dense cloud and humid winds prevent significant overnight cooling.

Tomorrow, the trough responsible for this widespread rain event will pendulum to the west, following the lead of an upper cold pool. As this feature develops further in western and central parts of QLD, thunderstorms have the potential to become widespread, affecting the Channel country, Central West, and North West, Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders districts, as well as parts of adjacent districts. The storms associated with this trough storms have the potential to bring very heavy rainfall rates, leading to flooding.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2016

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