Wet week ahead for northern QLD
Ben Domensino,
Thursday February 2, 2017 - 12:14 AEDT
Parts of Tropical North Queensland are enjoying a soggy start to February after enduring a dry end to 2016.
The opening months of the wet season were notably dry for parts of Queensland's North Tropical Coast and Cape York Peninsula. Cooktown endured their driest start to a wet season since the site started collecting data 17 years ago, picking up just 27mm during November and December combined. Cairns Airport received 77mm in the final two months of 2016, which is well below their long-term average of 270mm for that period.
Fortunately, many areas in northern Queensland are having better luck at the start of 2017. Both Cairns and Cooktown received near-average falls during January and have shot out of the gates this month. Even parched Townsville had its best rain in 11 months this week.
A stream of moisture flowing across the Coral Sea combined with an upper trough to produce heavy rain and storms over the state's north during the last few days.
Some areas near Innisfail and Tully saw more than 200mm during the 48 hours to 9am today, including 275mm at Murray Flats and 219mm at Rankin Creek. South Johnstone collected 130mm in the last two days, which is close to a quarter of their February monthly average.
Further south, Townsville received their heaviest rain since March when 52mm fell on the final day of January.
Rain and storms will continue over northern Queensland during the next week as moisture continues to stream in from the east and north. Falls are likely to become more intense along the North Tropical Coast once again this weekend.
The heaviest falls during the next week will occur north of about Ingham, where river flooding may develop. Stay up to date with the latest flood warnings at: http://www.weatherzone.com.au/warnings.jsp
- Weatherzone
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2017