Hello, Miriam here from the Bureau with a Saturday Severe Weather Update.
Once again, looking at the rain that continues to impact northern parts of the country.
Now, in the past week, that cloud band and rain band
has brought significant falls to large parts of the country.
We saw a bit of an easing during Wednesday and Thursday before the system
re-intensified over the Northern Territory yesterday.
In the past 24 hours, we've seen 20 to 50 mm through the Northern Territory
and the Kimberley approaching 80 mm around the Bedford Downs Airstrip
and around 70 mm near Lajamanu in the Northern Territory.
So what can we expect from this system today?
Well, taking a look at our model data, we can see how those falls are really going
to be focused on the central districts of the Northern Territory through today.
While they start to ease up through the Kimberley,
through the later part of today, it'll move into western Queensland,
increasingly around those western and central districts of the north east through tomorrow.
We may even see some thunderstorms about the Gulf Country that could bring some locally heavy falls
towards the beginning of next week this system is going to interact
with the moist easterly flow coming off the Coral Sea, enhancing
rainfall about the tropics, particularly between Cairns and Mackay.
But it's not just going to be Queensland that's in for some rain
during the early part of the week, we are expecting to see that pushing down
the coast through New South Wales and towards the south eastern states as well.
Now much patchier rainfall in these areas, much lower totals are expected
with the focus very much remaining on Queensland
and Northern Territory for those rainfall numbers.
So taking a look at those now, across the next 3 to 4 days,
we're going to see, broadly speaking, 20 to 50 mm
building up across those northern parts of the country.
Some areas are likely to see between 50 and 100
mm particularly central parts of the Northern Territory
and the Gulf Country In Queensland, as well as about those tropics
as the rainfall starts to build up through Monday and Tuesday
because of this incoming rainfall, we do still have the flood watches current
for the Kimberley and parts of the Northern Territory.
So local river rises are possible, some unseasonal flows if you're camping
or traveling near waterways, just be aware of this risk.
But in addition to the risk of local flooding,
we are expecting significant impacts to continue for our roads and access routes.
A number of roads are already closed through western and central parts
of the country, with further closures likely as rain continues
to move through the systems.
The other thing to be aware of is that those roads can be affected
by the rainfall for days after the rain has cleared, with the roads
remaining muddy and impassable.
So just be aware even if the sky is blue, you might find your way closed
and you might have to seek an alternate route.
The best way to stay up to date
is to follow the advice from the local emergency services
or check the traffic and transport web pages for your destination.
The other impact of the rain is, of course,
going to be the cold conditions under that thick cloud.
Now, eight degrees is our forecast maximum for Alice Springs today.
Eight degrees is the forecast maximum for tomorrow as well
with large parts of Central Australia below 12 degrees.
Through the early part of next week,
those cold conditions will move into Queensland, but it won't be
quite as intense as through central parts of the continent.
The east coast is going to remain slightly warmer.
Still cool under that cloud and rain, but generally closer to the average.
So with these wet cool conditions likely to continue
and to impact much larger parts of Queensland over the coming days,
it's essential to keep up to date with all of the latest forecasts
and warnings via our website or via the BOM weather app.
Bye for now.