Press Release

Torrential rain creates flooding havoc in Mackay

15/02/2008: Mackay was inundated by more than twice its average monthly rainfall in just a few hours this morning, leading to widespread flash flooding, and more heavy rain is on the way, according to weatherzone.com.au.

East Mackay picked up a phenomenal 625mm of rain in the 24 hours to 9am today, its highest daily rain total since records commenced at the site in 1999. Mackay North received 610mm in the same time period, its heaviest daily rainfall since records commenced there in 1995.

Widespread falls in excess of 100mm occurred throughout the Central Coast district, most of which fell between the hours of midnight and 9am.

"This morning’s torrential rain was the result of a very moist easterly airstream to the south of the monsoon trough, which is currently situated near Bowen," weatherzone.com.au meteorologist Matt Pearce said.

"We also had a small wave of colder air in the upper atmosphere pass over the region, which just made conditions even more conducive for very heavy rain."

The monsoon trough is slowly moving northwards up the coast, so heavy falls are likely to extend further north into the Herbert and Lower Burdekin district tonight.

"Residents of Mackay are not out of the woods yet. In the last couple of hours, some more heavy rain has developed to the west of the city. This looks like it might add to the flooding situation during the evening and nighttime hours, before we see an easing tomorrow," Pearce said.

"The heaviest falls will shift north of Townsville over the weekend as the monsoon trough continues its slow retreat back towards Cape York."

Media Inquiries:

Matt Pearce
media@weatherzone.com.au
02 9965 9236

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