A flood warning remains in place for the Gold Coast after it was hit with a month’s worth of rain in 24 hours.
Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecaster Morgan Pumper said Natural Bridge, in the hinterland, had received 214 millimetres on Saturday, with 172mm also soaking the Gold Coast Seaway.
“We’re definitely seeing above average at the moment,” Ms Pumper said.
“Just looking at May, the rainfall totals are around 77.8 millimetres at the seaway.
“So we’ve already seen that the last 24 hours easily and the chance [of] getting an even further amount over a two-day period, we’re definitely looking at our monthly average already.”
A flood warning is in place for parts of the Gold Coast, with the Nerang and Pimpama Rivers experiencing minor to moderate flooding.
The Coomera River, Mudgeeraba Creek, and Tallebudgera and Currumbin Creeks are also experiencing minor flooding.
Ms Pumper said these waterways had become a “watch point” due to sustained rainfall.
“So just be careful around some of those rivers in the next 24 to 48 hours,”
she said.
“But really it’s a bit of a watch point at the moment to see how much we do get.”
She said the heavy rainfall was expected to continue until early tomorrow morning.
A flooded park in Mudgeeraba. (ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale)
The outlook clears up on Wednesday as most of Queensland bathes in sunshine.
Clearer skies in the south-east corner will result in much cooler nights as the overnight cloud cover disappears.
“We’ve got pretty warm minimum temperatures both [this] morning and Tuesday morning, around 18 to 19 degrees, so definitely a few degrees above average,” senior meteorologist Harry Clark said.
“It’s thanks to the extra cloud cover we’re expecting as that cloud band comes over [today] and Tuesday.
“Once we get to Wednesday and this rain system starts to push off out to sea, we end up with an injection of dry air coming in from the south-west behind it.
“That’s when our minimum temperatures will get cold in the south-east and broadly across the remainder of the state.”
Overnight temperatures in Stanthorpe on the Southern Downs are forecast to plummet to 4 degrees Celsius on Friday, while Longreach in the state’s west is looking at a low of 7C.
Powerful swells hit beaches
As the rain clears in coastal areas and the sun returns, the beaches are likely to become alluring.
But the weather bureau warns beachgoers to be wary of large swell and vast tidal variations.
“If you’re headed to the beaches over the next few days, keep in mind we do have a fairly powerful easterly swell developing [today] and some pretty big tides as well,” Mr Clark said.
“There will be a lot of water moving around our open beaches, so take care if you’re headed down there.”
Fine and sunny weather is forecast in central and northern parts of the state all week, with maximum temperatures in the mid-to-high 20s in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton and Mount Isa.
