South-east Queensland is facing its best chance of significant rain in months, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting showers and thunderstorms across the region from Tuesday.
Some areas could receive their highest daily rainfall since June, while parts of the southern interior may collect almost as much rain in five days as they have received during the past three months.
“It’s a generally showery and stormy week for most of Queensland, particularly for the southern interior parts and down into the southeast,” BOM meteorologist Liam Smart said.
Moisture moving across southern Queensland, together with surface troughs, is expected to generate scattered to widespread thunderstorms through the southern parts of the state and into the south-east.
Rain and storm forecast for south-east Queensland
Brisbane has recorded only 16mm of rain in the past three months. The city could receive up to 15mm on Tuesday, with showers forecast each day and as much as 44mm possible between Tuesday and Saturday.
Roma is forecast to receive up to 80mm over the same period, exceeding the rainfall recorded there during the past four months.
Mr Smart warned that the rain would not necessarily be evenly distributed, with some areas potentially missing out despite the arrival of more moisture.
“We’ve got a couple of bands of showers and thunderstorms moving through. The first one moves through the southeast around Tuesday and that will clear off on Wednesday,” he said.
“There is still a chance of a rogue thunderstorm, but that’s probably more early in the morning.”
A second band of showers and thunderstorms is expected to move through south-east Queensland on Thursday and Friday, particularly on Friday.
Temperatures in the southern interior and along the south-east coast are expected to remain above average for several days before cooling from Wednesday. Brisbane is forecast to reach 31C on Tuesday, followed by 25C on Wednesday and 22C on Friday.
“We are in our storm period. October is traditionally the start of our severe weather season in southeast Queensland,” Mr Smart said. “We do start seeing those storms build up now.”
The warm and dry conditions have also contributed to bushfires in the state. Major fires at Murphy’s Creek and Seventeen Mile in the Lockyer Valley, south-west of Brisbane, have been burning for more than a week.
Both fires remain at advice level, with residents urged to stay alert and listen for warnings. Queensland’s fire department has also warned people to avoid smoke from the blazes, which are expected to continue burning for several days.
