East coast braces for floods and blistering heat in week of extreme weather

Parts of Australia will be flooded with heavy rain this week, while others will swelter through blistering heat for the end of the first month of the year.

Heavy rain is set to be dumped on parts of Queensland, while NSW is due for temperatures well over 40 degrees and Victoria is in for both heat and rain.

More than 300mm is possible in northwest Queensland, Weatherzone meteorologist Craig McIntosh told Yahoo News Australia, with the heaviest rain likely to fall on Tuesday.

“It will be very, very wet for the northern half of Queensland. Rainfall totals in the northwest will be well over 200mm but possibly even over 300mm for some areas,” Mr McIntosh said.

Southern Queensland would also experience rain, but it would be more patchy than in the north, and heaviest for the remaining part of Monday, the majority of Tuesday and potentially some of Wednesday.

“There’s most likely going to be thunderstorms as well. But the remainder of the week will be mostly dry, except in areas close to the coast where there will be showers and onshore winds,” he said.

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Mr McIntosh said that would encapsulate Brisbane, the Gold Coast and all the way down the coast from just south of Mackay.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a moderate flood warning, as of Monday morning, for the Paroo River in southern Queensland.

“Isolated heavy falls have been recorded upstream of Eulo in the last few days in addition to rainfall recorded in the catchment over a week ago,” it said.

“Showers and storms are possible over the Paroo catchment today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday) which may cause further river level rises.

“The Paroo River at Eulo may reach the moderate flood level (3.00 m) by mid week.”

Meanwhile, moderate flooding is happening in the Upper Flinders catchment in the Richmond area, and minor flooding is possible on the Cloncurry River at Cloncurry.

A flood warning is also in place for the Nicholson, Gregory and Leichhardt Rivers as at 3.59pm AEST.

‘Hot and humid’

Conditions will be predominantly dry in NSW, with between 10 and 15mm on the cards for the whole week in northeastern parts, Mr McIntosh said.

Any rain will have eased by Thursday, which is when temperatures are expected to soar towards 40 degrees in western Sydney and not much cooler closer to the city.

“It will be a hot Thursday for Western Sydney and it will be very warm and humid for eastern parts of Sydney,” he said.

“It will be heating up on Friday and Saturday and Sunday will both be quite hot.”

Mr McIntosh said Saturday could see a top of 43 degrees in Western Sydney and in the mid to high 30s for the city and its surrounding areas.

‘Healthy falls’ for Melbourne

In Victoria, some light showers are expected for the bushfire-ravaged East Gippsland area for Tuesday, before dry conditions set in for the remainder of the week.

Late on Friday a trough will begin moving across the state, bringing rainfall to some parts.

“Friday and Saturday there could be some healthy falls for southwestern Victoria, possibly also Woomera, central, and Melbourne areas,” Mr McIntosh said.

Leading up to the rain, Melbourne will be hot on both Thursday and Friday, and potentially surpass 40 degrees on Friday.

“It will start to heat up throughout the week and peak later this week.”

South Australia also has some heat forecasted throughout the week, with it also likely to be hit with temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s Thursday and Friday, until some rain on Saturday and Sunday.

Hot weather will predominantly continue throughout the week in Western Australia as Perth’s coolest maximums in the mid 20s are due for Thursday and Friday, and the rest of the week in the mid to high 30s.

Temperatures will stay in the mid to high 20s until Thursday in Hobart, Tasmania, before a 33 degree day on Thursday and 38 degrees on Friday.

The weekend will likely see the return of some rain and cooler temperatures in the mid to low 20s.

A hot week is forecasted for the country’s capital city, which will experience temperatures in the high 30s and lows 40s from Monday through to Sunday.

Thunderstorms and a maximum temperature of 33 degrees each day has been forecasted for Darwin in the Northern Territory, wheres its highest rainfall of 15mm is expected to fall on Saturday.

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