Heavy rain continues across northern Queensland and flooding is expected to increase in the coming days. First, let's have a look at what we saw overnight Sunday and into Monday morning. And on the satellite we can see thick cloud associated with the monsoon low and a monsoon trough over northern Queensland. Those did deliver very heavy rainfall, particularly on the eastern and southern flank of that low pressure system. And a lot of rain also pouring down across that north-east tropical coast.

Let's have a look now at the 24 hour rainfall totals to Monday morning. And we did see some very high rainfall totals across both the north-east coast and also north-western parts of Queensland. South Mission Beach was a real standout. 368mm, but the Cassowary Coast did see widespread falls of between 100 to 200mm overnight. Further west and Oakland Park was a real standout with 313mm just near Normanton. And we did see those widespread falls between 100 to 200mm all the way from the Gulf Coast and through inland parts of north-western Queensland, and there is more rainfall on the way.

So now let's have a look at the latest weather warnings. There is still a warning current for western parts of the state and also the north-east for heavy rainfall. Focusing now with that first warning in the west. We are still expecting heavy rainfall, with peak six hourly totals between 75 to 120mm, and some isolated areas could see rainfall totals exceeding that, leading to dangerous and life threatening flash flooding. Additionally, there is a risk of damaging winds and that will mostly come on the eastern flank of the low. So from Kowanyama down towards Julia Creek as well as Richmond, and that could cause damage to property as well as vegetation.

Looking at that warning along the north-east tropical coast that extends all the way from Cairns down towards Rollingstone just to the north of Townsville and peak six hourly totals are expected of between 100 to 180mm, and again thunderstorms could deliver even higher rainfall totals than that, and these rainfall totals are expected to build even further as we head into Monday night and also into Tuesday.

So now having a look at the latest flooding situation, we still have a very broad area of flood watches covering all the way from the east coast into western Queensland and eastern parts of the Northern Territory. A major flood warning is still current for the Flinders River. We're already seeing flooding at Richmond and also expected at Walker's Bend that bit further towards the Gulf Coast, and we can see here the areas in orange, moderate flood warnings are also current, including for the Cloncurry and Western Rivers.

Overnight though, we did see some new flood warnings being issued. They include for the McArthur River, we could see minor flooding at Borroloola in the Northern Territory, and also minor flood warning for the Tully River and the Bohle River near Townsville. What you see here is dynamic and will change, so make sure you have the latest information as we do update these flood watches and warnings as the rainfall continues to come.

So now having a look at what we are expecting to see at a day by day basis. For the rest of Monday, we see this monsoon low and that trough continuing to move quite slowly across western parts of Queensland. Very heavy rainfall along the south-eastern flank and also a lot of heavy rainfall building across the north-east tropical coast as we head into Monday night.
On Tuesday, that monsoon low drifts a little bit further south and so it will start to lose a bit of access to that tropical moisture. Heavy rainfall is still expected over a very wide area and also heavy falls continuing along that tropical north-east coast. So it’s not until Wednesday, we'll finally start to see that rainfall easing, but still remaining very widespread, could extend all the way down into the far south-west of the state and also increasing across central parts of Queensland.

And then on Thursday, we'll finally start to see that rainfall easing further back. But we could still see pockets of heavy rainfall right along the coast. And thunderstorms could also increase across south-eastern parts of the state.

So having a look at those total rainfall figures all the way into Thursday night, we are still expecting the heaviest rain to be through outback and western parts of Queensland. We could see those totals out to Thursday night between 200 to more than 500mm. Similarly, along the tropical coast, some of those rainfall totals could reach more than 500mm by Thursday night. And for central Queensland, it will depend on how that low and monsoon trough do move. But at this stage, as you can see, we could see rainfall totals between 50 to 100mm across central parts of the state.

So with more rainfall to come as well as more flooding, it is important that you have the latest information and warnings for your area or if you are traveling across this holiday period. You can get that information on our website and app. Follow us on social media and as always, please stay safe.