Unseasonal rain tumbles down across north Queensland

Residents of northern and eastern Queensland have enjoyed a rare sight over the last day or so – widespread rain falling across the state, right in the middle of the dry season, according to weatherzone.com.au.

The best falls of the last 24 hours have gone to the Northern Goldfields district, inland from Townsville. Malboona, to the northeast of Winton, picked up 76mm in the 24 hours to 9am today.

Georgetown, further to the north, received 38mm in the same time period, its highest July daily rainfall in four years of records.

Along the coast, Mackay recorded 32mm to 9am, their highest July rainfall in 12 years.

"An area of cold air in the upper levels of the atmosphere has been the trigger for this very unseasonal rainfall across eastern Queensland. Normally, these areas are very dry between May and September, so it is unusual to see such widespread rain," weatherzone.com.au meteorologist Matt Pearce said.

Winds have also been gusty along the coast. Hamilton Island, in the Whitsundays, has been experiencing gusts up to 70km/hr through the morning.

"A low pressure system is likely to spin up just off the Capricornia coast later tomorrow. This will increase winds further in the Wide Bay and even as far south as Brisbane, but will also lead to a gradual easing in the rain," Pearce said.

"At this early stage, we are also keeping an eye on another potential system to affect southeast Queensland early next week. This could bring even more rainfall and strong winds to the coast."


- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2008

More breaking news

ABC News
Sydney Morning Herald
National Nine News
News Limited