Welcome rain on the radar
EX- TROPICAL cyclone Owen is expected to have a significant impact on the North Queensland coast in coming days, dumping welcome rain on the region.
Bureau meteorologist Harry Clark said while the exact path of the low was uncertain, there was a very high chance Townsville could get falls of 60mm or more on Sunday.
“We’re expecting the system to slowly drift towards the coast towards the weekend which will lead to an increase in showers to the south of the low pressure system,” Mr Clark said.
“Somewhere along the central east coast will see significant increases in showers and rain activity and in Townsville we’ll see particularly good falls on Sunday.”
ALL eyes are on ex- tropical cyclone Owen, with the weather bureau tipping huge falls south of wherever the system crosses over the next few days.
Bureau meteorologist Harry Clark said while the exact path of the tropical low was uncertain, there was a very high chance Townsville could get falls of 60mm or more on Sunday.
“We’re expecting the system to slowly drift towards the coast towards the weekend which will lead to an increase in showers to the south of the low pressure system,” Mr Clark said.
“Somewhere along the central east coast will see significant increases in showers and rain activity and in Townsville we’ll see particularly good falls on Sunday.”
But will Townsville’s famous “dome” prevent any decent rain from falling as predicted this weekend?
Mr Clark said the theory behind Townsville’s rain dome wasn’t entirely crazy; the reason we miss out on so much rain was because of the shape of our coastline.
“Rainfall is connected with south- easterly winds that produce the onshore falls for most areas,” he said.
“But with Townsville, because of the shape of the coastline the winds go parallel to the coast … so instead of the showers coming onshore they sort of run alongside the coast and the rain is redirected where the coastline changes shape again sort of towards Cardwell and Bowen.”
He said with thunderstorms from the west, the mountainous topography often made them fizzle out.
“When they hit the mountains they can sometimes break up when they hit the seabreezes; that’s not to say you can’t get decent storms from the west,” Mr Clark said.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms caused havoc for areas near Charters Towers on Wednesday, with powerlines being brought down and motorists having to be rescued from their cars. Further north, Sings Farm near Cardwell re- corded the most rainfall in the state after 189mm fell in the 24 hours to 9am yesterday.
In Cardwell itself, 159mm of rain was recorded, while Upper Reid and Four Mile stations north of Charters Towers recorded 56mm and 52mm respectively. The Townsville suburb that received the most rain was Stuart Creek, Julago with 44mm.