IDQ10700
Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology Queensland
Queensland State Forecast
Issued at 4:10 pm EST on Saturday 26 May 2012
Warning Summary at issue time
A Strong Wind Warning has been issued for Southeast Gulf of Carpentaria waters for Sunday morning. A Strong Wind Warning is current for east coast waters between Lockhart River and Cairns.
Weather Situation
A large high [1031 hPa] over the western Great Australian Bight is moving slowly eastwards. The high extends a ridge across most of Queensland.
Forecast for the rest of Saturday
Cloudy and patchy rain northeast of about Normanton to Gladstone. The rain should contract northeast out of the Capricornia district during the evening. Isolated showers over Cape York Peninsula. Fine and mostly clear over the remainder of the state but with some patchy cloud over the southern interior. Moderate to fresh SW to SE winds over the state, strong about the northeast tropical coast.
Forecast for Sunday
The high in the Great Australian Bight will continue to circulate dry and cool SW to SE winds across most of the state. Some cloud will persist about southern inland border areas with possible drizzle. Cloudy with patchy light rain about the northeast tropics. Early patchy light rain about the Central Coast and Whitsundays district should clear to the northeast early in the day. Fine and cool conditions will continue over the remainder of the state with widespread early frosts over the southern, southeast and central interior. Moderate to fresh SW to SE winds over the state with strong S to SE wind over southeast Gulf of Carpentaria waters and about the northeast tropics.
Forecast for Monday
The large high will move further eastwards across the Great Australian Bight. As a result, winds along the east coast will begin to shift more onshore and moisten. Scattered showers will develop along coast north of Cardwell with isolated showers about the coast south of about Gladstone. Mostly cloudy conditions with little or no rain will continue in the far northeast. Fine conditions will continue elsewhere with another cold morning and widespread early frosts through the central, southern and southeastern interior. Strong S to SE winds will continue over southeast Gulf of Carpentaria waters and along the northeast tropical coast, and may also develop over far southern waters.
Forecast for Tuesday
The large high will almost reach Victoria and will maintain the onshore flow along the east coast. Isolated showers will occur in most east coast districts and will spill over into the adjacent southeast inland in the afternoon. Showers and isolated thunderstorms will affect the far north of Cape York Peninsula. Fine and generally cool conditions will continue across the remainder of the state.
Forecast for Wednesday
The high will move further east across southeastern Australia and will direct fresh to strong SE winds along the entire east coast. An upper trough system over central Australia will increase instability across the state with showers becoming scattered about the east coast. Isolated showers are also likely to spread to the central and southern interior as moisture spreads westwards across the state. The upper trough is also expected to spread cloud and rain areas southeastwards across the north of the state, reaching central regions by the end of the day.
Outlook for Thursday, Friday and Saturday
The high will continue to move slowly eastwards across the Tasman Sea through the outlook period. The upper trough over central Australia is expected to intensify and then move southeast across the state during Friday and Saturday. Showers will continue along the east coast and will spill over into the adjacent inland. Cloud and rain areas are likely to spread to most parts of the state on Thursday and Friday, before contracting into central and southern areas on Saturday as the upper trough moves southeastwards.
The next routine forecast will be issued at 4:45 am EST Sunday.
