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Ben Domensino, 19 May 2022, 3:49 AM UTC

Wet, cold and cloudy weather looms for QLD

Wet, cold and cloudy weather looms for QLD

Heavy rain is about to soak parts of central and southeast QLD, with some areas also expected to have their coldest days in about 10 months.

A slow-moving high pressure system passing over southeastern Australia during the coming week will direct a persistent stream of onshore winds into eastern QLD. These onshore winds will carry moisture-laden air from the Coral Sea towards QLD, producing thick clouds and rain on multiple days.

While showers will develop over a broad area of QLD between Thursday and the middle of next week, the heaviest rain is likely to occur over central and southeast QLD this Friday and Saturday.

The map below shows how much rain two computer models expect to fall between now and Sunday night. While there is potential for 50 to 150 mm in some central and southeast coastal districts, there is uncertainty around whether the heaviest rain on Friday and Saturday will fall over land or out to sea.

Image: ECMWF (left) and GFS (right) forecast accumulated rain between Thursday and Sunday.

The heaviest rain should clear offshore from Sunday, however showers will linger over much of the state through most of next week.

Temperatures will also be impacted by this prolonged run of wet and cloudy weather, with some places likely to have their coldest day so far this year.

Brisbane’s coldest day of the coming week is likely to be on Saturday, when the temperature could struggle to reach 20ºC, well below the long-term May average of around 24ºC. If it stays below 19ºC in the city on Saturday, which is a chance, this would be Brisbane’s coldest day since July 2021.

Wind chill will also be a noticeable factor in eastern QLD from Friday through to at least early next week, making temperatures fell several degrees colder than they are. In Brisbane, it could feel like the low-to-mid teens for most of the day on Saturday.

Some of this coming week’s rain will fall into rivers that are still flooded from heavy rainfall in recent weeks. This may exacerbate flooding in some areas and prompt weather and flood warnings in the coming days. Be sure to check the latest warnings for the most up-to-date information on this developing system.

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