Cyclone forms as rain tipped

TROPICAL Cyclone Owen has officially formed in the Coral Sea, with forecasters expecting the system to strengthen into a category 2 system today.

The weather system is unlikely to impact Townsville but some unrelated rain should fall across the city later in the week.

Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Harry Clark said Cyclone Owen would move slowly and remain well off the Queensland coast until at least midweek.

“( As of yesterday afternoon) the system is north of Cooktown,” Mr Clark said. “It will remain reasonably slow moving and out to sea until at least tomorrow or Wednesday.

“It is difficult to predict what will happen with ( the system) beyond that but we will be keeping people updated as we know more.”

The Bulletin understands the cyclone is expected to peak as a category two tropical cyclone and the State Government’s disaster management team is monitoring the situation, but at this stage expects no threat to the coast.

Despite the unlikelihood of Townsville being impacted by the cyclone, some rainfall is predicted for later in the week.

“There’s a medium to high chance of showers from Wednesday through to the end of the week,” Mr Clark said.

“The reason for the rainfall is more to do with the increasing flow of wind coming off the ocean rather than directly from the cyclone itself.

“Some localised places may receive heavy downpours and thunderstorm activity, but we are not looking at widespread heavy rain.”

Mr Clark said temperatures would remain in the mid- 30s until the rain hits, with humid conditions expected to keep overnight minimums fairly high.

The rains should provide some relief for local firefighters who have been working hard to keep bushfires at bay.

A Queensland Fire Emergency Services official said rural firefighters were monitoring fires at Paluma, Mutarnee, Hervey Range and Pinnacles yesterday.

Crews were also containing a larger blaze at Mount Fox, north of Ingham.

“There is still a high fire danger and we will be monitoring weather conditions on a regular basis,” the official said. “We have a firebird monitoring and mapping all the fires in the region.”

A total fire ban has been extended across the region.