Events ready to weather the storm
GOLD Coast organisers of weekend tennis finals, an outdoor cinema and big horse race meet say they have contingency plans with stormy weather predicted.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast for this weekend with 40mm of rain expected to fall today and 50mm tomorrow.
But it would still be all horses go for the $1.5 million Jewel Raceday tomorrow, Gold Coast Turf Club CEO Steve Lines said.
“In the event the rain gets heavy we take stock and talk with the stewards,” he said. “At this point in time it’s business as usual and we worry about it if and when it happens.”
Mr Lines said the weather would not dampen spirits.
“We’ve got the full downstairs and it’s fully airconditioned to have people comfortable in the event we do get some bad weather,” he said.
“There are a lot of locals coming to it and we’re very excited about it.”
Even the Openair Cinemas at Broadwater Parklands is largely unfazed by wet weather with screenings set to go ahead tonight, tomorrow and Sunday.
Despite being outdoors the event is advertised as allweather with attendees told to bring wet weather gear.
Openair Cinemas film program manager Marine Grangier said ticketholders would be notified of a cancellation at 4pm in the event of dangerous storms.
“In the past we’ve cancelled screenings in the morning seeing as the weather was horrendous and it cleared up in the afternoon so we’re trying to avoid this,” she said.
Tennis Gold Coast’s Saturday afternoon competition playoffs will be largely unaffected if play is postponed.
With 68 players set to take the court for semi finals, Tennis Gold Coast secretary Sarah Weise said it wouldn’t matter if the tournament was put back a week.
“We’ve got a spare round so if they don’t get played they’ll be played the next weekend,” she said.
“We’ve allowed for the finals to be played over three weeks but it only takes two.”
If the Gold Coast receives the 90mm expected during the next two days it will go a long way to boosting the monthly average. There has been just 29mm of rain this month. The average for March is 129mm.
Weatherzone meteorologist Graeme Brittain said even though rain and storms would be around, there would be little relief from the heat.
A maximum of 33 degrees has been forecast for today, while Saturday and Sunday are predicted to peak at 28.
The March average is 27.9 in the Seaway.
Showers and storms were also forecast for Sunday but the trough would weaken into next week and the city would see less rain, he said.