Relief in sight as storms roll in

RAIN and thunder storms forecast for the rest of the week will hopefully provide a cool break in the weather for Far Northerners who have endured hellish temperatures over the past few days.

The region is forecast for a top of 34 today, above the 31.5 January average.

Ex-Cyclone Penny is expected to track west in the early hours of this morning, with the low pressure system likely to cross the coast between Mackay and Townsville by 10am.

Heavy rains and possible thunderstorms could reach Cairns and surrounding areas as early as this afternoon.

The oncoming rain could be good news for Far North growers, who appear set to reach 100 per cent irrigation allocation from Tinaroo Dam this year.

FNQ Growers Group president Joe Moro said farmers would get 100 per cent if the dam was at 75 per cent or above by July 1.

Tinaroo Dam is at 81 per cent capacity and slowly climbing.

“There’s more rain on the way, which is good news. We don’t know much of that will reach the Tablelands, but it will be interesting to see,” he said.

“There’s a lot of the wet season left to play out, last year it didn’t get really full until February and March.

“If we get similar falls this year, we could see it go over the spillway for the first time in years.”

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Adam Blazak said the region could expect to cool down on Thursday, when ex Cyclone Penny is forecast to start moving toward Cairns.

“South-easterly winds will come back to moderate those high surface temperatures, and the region can expect a top of 80mm of rain,” he said.

A flood warning has been issued for a number of catchments including the Barron, Mulgrave, Tully, Johnstone, Daintree and Mossman rivers.