Weather Update: intense rainfall and flooding in northern Queensland, 5 February 2019

05/02/2019

Good morning from the Bureau. We've continued to see intense and significant rainfall through northern parts of Queensland—especially around the coastal areas just northwest of Townsville, where we saw over 300 mm to 9 am this morning.

Looking at the satellite, we can see the low still sitting in northwest Queensland, with quite significant rainfall south of it.

The monsoon trough is extending all the way into the Coral Sea and causing that convergent area just south of it. That's where we can see that thunderstorm activity at the moment.

That area will slowly drift south over the next couple of days, taking most of that intense rainfall with it, so we could see it around the sort or Proserpine to Mackay area, but Townsville could still see some significant rainfall depending on where those showers and thunderstorms are and if any bands do form around the area.

Looking at the Severe Weather Warning, we do have two areas of concern:

For the coastal areas, we could see damaging wind gusts in excess of 90 km/h and also heavy rainfall that leads to flash flooding. That could be 100–200 mm in 6 h in some areas, and possibly even 300 mm where we see that convergent band set up.

For the inland parts, we also do have a warning out where areas could see 70–120 mm, which is very intense for those areas and could lead to flash flooding.

So while this weather remains, keep an eye out for any warnings on our website and app, and follow the advice of your emergency services.