The trough that has been wreaking havoc over the eastern states has gradually drifted towards northeast QLD bringing heavy rainfall and thunderstorms to the coastal fringe north of about Bundaberg. To 9am this morning, the heaviest rains were recorded north of Mackay and south of Townsville, with inland areas east of Bowen recording about 100mm. Bowen itself recorded close to 70mm in the 24h period to 9am today. Earlier this morning, storms brought 10mm of rainfall in 10 minutes to Mingela and 8mm in 10 minutes at Alva Beach, both in the Lower Burdekin. Hamilton Island was one of the worst hit, however, with 15mm in 10 minutes at around midnight. Today, the active trough is likely to bring a further 50-100mm of rainfall along the coastal areas between Mackay, Rockhampton and Harvey Bay with thunderstorms still on the cards. Luckily, an end is in sight, as the trough is now drifting off shore into the Coral Sea. A few light showers will linger tomorrow along the coasts, mainly the lower Capricornia and upper Wide Bay and Burnett but skies will clear on Monday, bringing the calm after the storm early next week. Another trough is likely to deepen over western QLD late next week, bringing about another bout of rainfall to western and central districts with widespread falls of 20-50mm. Although these falls have brought some relief to drought stricken areas in QLD, they are still far from drought breaking.