Rain on the radar for city

A REPRIEVE from the wet weather has come to an end, as the Bureau of Meteorology warns that the state could see some wild weather in the coming days.

A rare July east coast low has formed off the south east of Queensland, which could see damaging winds, surf and rain to southern Queensland from today, and northern NSW from Friday.

Toowoomba could see up to 8mm today with winds of up to 45km/h, with 10mm forecast for tomorrow.

BOM senior meteorologist Jonathan How said while some unseasonal rain was expected from Thursday in southern Queensland, the heaviest falls were expected to be offshore.

“Soils remain wet for much of southeast Queensland and eastern New South Wales, and while the rain is not expected to cause widespread riverine flooding, some localised creek and river level rises are possible,” he said.

“From Wednesday, strong south-easterly winds will develop along the Queensland coast south of Mackay, and these strong winds will extend into NSW from Thursday.

“The wind is expected to increase further, particularly from Friday, as the low deepens. There is a risk of damaging wind gusts of more than 90km/ h on Friday and early Saturday around the exposed coastal fringes of firstly southern Queensland, then northern NSW.”

The BOM’s latest Climate Driver Update remains at La Nina Watch, meaning there’s a 50-50 chance, double the normal likelihood, of La Nina forming later in 2022.

“La Nina events increase the chance of above-average winter-spring rainfall across much of northern and eastern Australia,” the update stated.

Toowoomba has already recorded a record-breaking wet start to 2022, with the city drenched in more than a year’s worth of rain in the first six months alone.