Australia Weather News

Queensland's north tropical coast is set for more drenching rain, with days of heavy falls causing flooding around the region.

A low pressure system has dumped more than 200 millimetres of rain on some areas in the past 24 hours, including 290mm at Clyde Road near Babinda.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says some locations have received between 600 and 700mm of rain since Monday morning. 

Heavy rain is forecast between Bowen and Mackay today, with severe thunderstorms possible. 

A flood watch remains in place between Cairns and Townsville, with a number of flood warnings in place for already saturated catchments.

The State Emergency Service (SES) has responded to 45 calls for help in the Cairns and Cassowary Coast area, mostly for sandbagging and tarping leaking roofs. 

Sealink North Queensland said it is monitoring ferry operations and has amended schedules due to strong winds and heavy seas forecast for tomorrow afternoon.

Meanwhile, Townsville City Council is preparing for the wet weather by pulling stinger nets in from beaches, clearing drains and fuelling up vehicles.

Stinger nets will be pulled from tomorrow morning at the Strand, Balgal beach, Magnetic Island and Pallarenda to prevent them being damaged.

Townsville emergency management and community safety team manager Zac Dawes said residents needed to stay informed and prepare their homes.

"It's better to be over-prepared than to be caught out if the weather worsens," he said.

Meteorologist Steve Hadley said he was particularly concerned about heavy rainfall south of Townsville, from Ayr through to Proserpine and Mackay.

He said the focus would shift to between Townsville and Cairns again tomorrow. 

"The reason for that is the tropical low that's just sitting offshore moves away for a little bit and then maybe comes back into the coast," Mr Hadley said. 

"So that area between Cairns and Townsville will probably bear the brunt of the heavy rainfall from Friday through most of the weekend.

"In that part of the world when it rains it can rain pretty heavily, so I wouldn't be surprised to see some totals of a few hundred millimetres."

The BOM is continuing to monitor a tropical low off the far north Queensland coast, which has a low chance of developing into a tropical cyclone today and tomorrow.

"Even though it's less likely to develop into a tropical cyclone, we're still likely to see strong to even gale-force winds along the coast through the weekend as that low pushes into the coast again," Mr Hadley said.

The bureau is also monitoring for four other lows that could develop across northern Australia over the coming days.

'A sea of water'

Cairns councillor Brett Moller, who lives on Behana Creek south of Aloomba, was stranded by floodwaters on Thursday.

"It was actually a sea of water out there," Cr Moller said.

"When I took a limited drive, that's what I was looking at; a sea of water. It was just an amazing deluge."

Cr Moller said he lost power and internet and reminded residents to have a battery-powered radio in their disaster pack.

Residents urged to be prepared

SES Far North area controller Wayne Coutts said the SES had increased its stock of sandbags and tarpaulins and recruited more volunteers since last year's wet season.

"We just suggest to people to take the opportunity to grab the sandbags, get to the council depots, to have them ready just in case," he said.

Chair of the Townsville Local Disaster Management Group, Councillor Andrew Robinson, is also urging people to be prepared in case conditions worsen.

"Speak with your family and put arrangements in place for yourself and your pets," Cr Robinson said.

"The second most important thing would be to have an emergency kit, a grab bag so that you can be self-reliant for up to three days."

With floodwaters cutting several roads around the region, Cr Robinson urged people not to take risks.  

"You don't know what's underneath the waters, the road could be washed away," he said.

"The last thing you want is to be stuck in the middle of a raging river."

Heatwave relief

Senior meteorologist Felim Hanniffy said monsoonal activity may bring cooler temperatures to communities experiencing hotter weather across the western part of the state.

"We'll see conditions subside in parts of the north-west and eventually broadly across the west," Mr Hanniffy said.

A severe heatwave in the Gulf and North West is expected to peak today as temperatures reach the mid to low 40s from Mount Isa through to Richmond, and high 30s further north.

The Central West will remain in the mid to low 40s throughout the week before dipping into the mid-30s on Monday.