Australia Weather News

Parts of North Queensland have again been cut off due to heavy rain, with the Bruce Highway closed north of Ingham for the fourth time this year.  

The highway was again cut due to flooding at Seymour River.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Livio Regano said it has been the wettest March recorded at the Townsville Airport since measurements started in 1940.

"We're not very far away from Townsville also getting its wettest calendar year on record — we're only about 200mm away, and the year has only just started," Mr Regano said.

"We could easily get that 200mm in the next few days."

A moderate flood warning is in place for the Bohle River and Haughton River Catchment, as well as the Thomson and Barcoo rivers and Cooper Creek to the west of Queensland.

Rain in the west

Parts of western Queensland have been drenched in the past few days to the joy of graziers, while some outback towns are cut off completely.

There is a major flood warning for the Bulloo River in south-west Queensland, which could lead to flooding in the outback town of Quilpie.

Senior meteorologist Angus Hines said rain and thunderstorms would continue across much of the state this week before easing to showers early next week.

"Between now and then, parts of inland Queensland could see an excess of 300mm of rain, which is extremely high for areas that typically run quite dry," he said.

Mr Hines said the outback could see falls of 100mm in the next 24 hours, with some isolated locations set to receive up to 200mm.

There is a severe weather warning for heavy rainfall which could cause flash flooding across much of central west Queensland, likely to affect Longreach, Quilpie, Windorah, Isisford, Barcaldine, and Winton. 

"We're talking places that normally only get 100mm a year, have just had it in one night," BOMforecaster LivioRegano said.

"The cloud cover is so heavy that the top temperatures have dropped back to the 20s, some places are getting low 20s. There's quite a bit of wind chill and it's raining constantly."

Grazier Frank Blacket has recorded about 300mm over the past few days on Alderley Station, 55 kilometres north of Boulia.

"This will set us up right through now, and they're still talking more rain for the rest of this week too. It'll be the cherry on top of the cake," he said.

"We knew we were going to get something, but I didn't expect this much in one hit."

Outback not alarmed about flooding

Cattle grazier Evan Acton said he was not concerned about the rainfall turning into serious flooding on his property, Millungera Station, 100 kilometres north of Julia Creek.

He said 72mm of rain in his gauge had been welcome relief.

"It got very hot and dry for a while, but we had plenty of feed going, so we started shifting off steers into central Queensland," he said.

"This rain now and the weather cooling off back into the early 30s is a real godsend to us."

Two men were rescued from floodwaters in Cloncurry on Monday afternoon after their ute became stuck on a flooded causeway.

In 2019, catastrophic flooding near Julia Creek killed more than half a million head of livestock and caused more than $5 billion in damage.

But McKinlay Shire Mayor Janene Fegan said while locals were stocking up on supplies just in case, currently everything was "relatively calm".

"Some of our local roads are closed, but still access to the east, west and south at the moment," she said.

"We're actually happy to see the rain."

Sandbags available

The heavy rainfall is a different story for north Queenslanders, who are again being urged to remain vigilant. 

The region is still recovering from the last weather event, including Ingham, which was hit hard by floods in February.

Sandbags were made available on Monday across various locations across Townsville, with the local disastermanagement group urging residents to be "alert, but not alarmed" and stay informed.

"At this stage, there is no intention for us to have people evacuate, but we are asking people to stay alert and in the event that they are asked to go, that they should be leaving their areas," Local Disaster Management Group chair Andrew Robinson said.

Last Wednesday, Townsville received 300mm of rain in 24 hours, inundating homes and destroying cars.

King tides are expected to reach up to four metres, while the Ross River Dam is at 134 per cent capacity, and controlled releases are underway.

People were also urged to conserve water, with city's sewerage system under pressure.