A surge of very moist southeasterly winds is bringing heavy rain to Qld's North Tropical Coast district today, Sunday 15th March.  

Locations around Daintree and Mossman have been hardest hit, with Mossman Treatment Plant, Rex Creek Intake, Yandill, Whyanbeel Creek and Bairds producing 345mm, 337mm, 299mm, 285mm and 264mm respectively in the 12 hours to noon today.  

Almost a quarter (73mm) of Yandill's 299mm total fell in just the single hour to 8am AEST. A similar amount fell in the 60 minutes to 9am AEST over Low Isles Lighthouse, contributing almost 40% of the site's daily rainfall total (184.4mm). You can just see the Low Isles outlined to the east of Wonga Beach and Mossman in the image below, under a heavy rainband (yellow to red colour). 

Image: Satellite and radar imagery showing a heavy rainband over the Low Isles and Daintree area at 9:50am AEDT (8:50 AEST) on Sunday, March 15, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. 

Meanwhile, the rainfall at Bairds, as well as additional rainfall in the surrounding area, has contributed to a sharp rise in the Daintree River level, currently standing at 10.9m at Bairds and 7.25m at Daintree Village at the time of writing. As such, a flood warning is currently in place for these locations, with moderate flood levels expected to persist overnight Sunday into Monday. 

Image: River conditions at 2:45pm AEST, showing moderate flooding (amber triangles) along the Daintree River at Bairds and Daintree Village, with minor flooding occurring at a few other locations between Mossman and Innisfail. Source: Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology. 

Further south, Cairns airport saw its wettest March day in 8 years, with 193.4mm falling in the gauge to 9am today, almost half the airport's March monthly average. 

From tomorrow, there will be a reprieve from these torrential conditions as southeasterly winds ease. However, there are signs that a tropical low or low-end tropical cyclone could cross the North Tropical Coast late this week, bringing a fresh deluge and renewed river level rises to the region. There is still plenty of uncertainty with that system at the moment, so make sure you stay up to date with warnings here over the coming days.