40 mm of rain in one hour

Flood warnings are in effect as three separate weather events bring heavy rainfall.

Hail fell in far north Queensland on Monday, while Queensland and NSW were hit by widespread rainfall and isolated thunderstorms.

Flood warnings are in effect for the Wilsons River near Lismore in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. The river is expected to peak at the minor flood mark on Tuesday morning.

Sarah Scully, senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said a full-scale flood warning had also been issued, with severe weather likely to extend from Sarina in Queensland down to Tweed Heads and the north and mid-north coast of New South Wales.

Dangerous surf warnings are also in place for Capricornia and the Sunshine Coast and are expected to last until Wednesday.

The warnings come after more than 200mm of rainfall fell in northern New South Wales, particularly on the coast.
“Rain continued overnight on the north and mid-north coast, with the Coffs area receiving about 50mm more, but generally rainfall has eased somewhat over the last 12 hours up to 6am this morning, with the region receiving a total of 5-15mm,” Ms Scully said.

“The heavier rainfall was actually concentrated in the country across the border, Queensland.”

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, between 20 and 30 mm of rain were recorded in southern Capricornia and parts of Wide Bay-Burnett, with even higher amounts recorded in Rockhampton and Bundaberg.

“There have been some observations of 80-100mm in the last few hours, including at Hills Road (weather station north of Bundaberg) – they recorded 100mm, with 40mm of that falling in just one hour,” she said.

“There was also quite heavy rainfall in this region.”

The rain is caused by an onshore current that brings moisture from the Pacific Ocean off Queensland and northern New South Wales.

“Then we have a coastal low close to the state border that is amplifying the rainfall and then we have an area of ​​low pressure aloft over Queensland that is helping to amplify or create really unstable conditions and leading to these really extensive and persistent rainfall events,” Ms Scully said.

Australians should keep their umbrellas handy as the wet weather is expected to persist until at least Wednesday.

“The whole system is moving quite slowly and rain is expected to continue throughout the day, particularly along the Queensland coast, then taper off during Wednesday morning,” Ms Scully said.

“The cold will ease during Wednesday, but will then clear up on Thursday as the system moves over the water.”

While Melbourne is expected to experience showers until Wednesday, temperatures of up to 20°C are expected from Monday to Thursday.

In Sydney, temperatures are expected to remain below -5 degrees Celsius throughout the week, while in Brisbane temperatures will rise above -5 degrees Celsius from Friday.

Perth and Adelaide will see rain for most of the week, but temperatures will be around -6 degrees.

Temperatures in Hobart will reach highs of 20°C on Tuesday, while Canberra is expected to see isolated showers and highs of 18°C ​​throughout the week.

Highs of 33°C are expected in Darwin on Tuesday, and warm temperatures are expected to continue throughout the week.