RAIN, WIND AND STORMS LOOM ON THE HORIZON
TOWNSVILLE will wave goodbye to winter in an “unusual” fashion with rain, wind and possible storms on the horizon.
Shower and storms were predicted right along the east coast of Australia on Sunday, with activity expected to pick up around Townsville on Monday.
The Early Warning Network issued a storm alert from Cairns to Canberra, warning the worst of the weather would hit the inland parts of southern and central Queensland.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Shane Kennedy said opposing winds would converge over Townsville on Monday, bringing with them a high chance of rain and possible storms. “In terms of rainfall we are looking at a very high chance, around the 90 per cent chance, on Monday and Tuesday,” Mr Kennedy said, predicting the wet weather would impact Townsville and Bowen, and stretch inland to Charters Towers.
Mr Kennedy said a trough sitting over central Queensland was expected to linger through the start of the week as winds and rain converged over Townsville, with a warning of possible strong winds.
“We will have some easterlies meeting some north-easterly winds,” he said.
“It is fairly unusual to see this depth of moisture and seeing that convergency region right over Townsville itself.”
By Wednesday, Mr Kennedy said, the rain was expected further north, moving into the North Tropical Coast around Cardwell.
“It is likely to be fairly cool underneath all that cloud on Monday and Tuesday (with) temperatures in the mid to high 20s,” he said. “It should dry out from Wednesday. “Townsville should be much clearer. We are forecasting 1mm or less and that should be a fairly dry rest of the week.”