Thursday, May 29, 2008

Raining In Brisbane

Yay!:
SOUTH-EAST Queenslanders have been urged to prepare for wild weather with more heavy rain tipped to follow overnight downpours which have already caused some flooding.

The Bureau of Meteorology revealed this morning that Brisbane has received its average monthly rainfall in just two days _ with the heaviest falls still to come.

Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said residents should prepare their properties for the possibility of heavy rain and strong winds over the coming days.

He said strong winds, dangerous surf and heavy rain which could cause local flooding, were forecast from Gladstone to the Gold Coast.

Falls of 27.4mm were recorded in the city overnight but Wynnum recorded the highest with 43mm.

The falls were enough to flood the Ipswich Motorway at Goodna, and police are warning motorists to proceed with caution.

...Sunshine Coast received the bulk of the falls with a top of 87mm at Noosa, 78.8mm at Tewantin, 52.2 at Nambour and 49.4mm at Maroochydore.

The Gold Coast Seaway received 27.4mm.

The dams again largely missed out _ Wivenhoe 10mm and Somerset 8mm.

Bureau of Meterology forecaster Andrea Peace said the rain and cool temperatures would continue until Tuesday, with the heaviest falls due Sunday into Monday.

Ms Peace said just how much rain depended on the movement of the east coast low, developing off Gladstone.

She said if it moved south as predicted, the south-east could be in for a very wet couple of days.

Ms Peace said while Brisbane's May average was about 50mm, records of the past 20 years show east coast lows pushing this above 500mm.

``There's real potential to be really have rain falls, they've just got to be in the right spot,'' she said.

``Although it's the dry season, there can be one-off events where we do get a lot of rain.''

In May 1989, Brisbane received 547mm; in June 2005, 512mm; Rainbow Beach in August 2007 600m.

Daytime temperatures are currently about 17 degrees - five degrees below average.

...Weekend falls were expected to be heaviest along the coast and peter out inland, with a maximum of 20mm on the Darling Downs where farmers needed planting rain for winter crops, the bureau said.

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